The Little One
by Emmalicious
Summary: Before the man in glasses could send her and the Child away, she looked back at the Mandalorian. For years, he had seen the looks his bounties would give him when he would return them to those who had asked for them. They were all the same; sadness, fury, fear, etc. But, the look that the Little One gave him as she was being led away, would stay with him for quite some time.
1. Chapter 1: The Little One

_The Little One watched her mother from the corner of the room. It was dingier than she had remembered, and there were no windows to let any light in. No, there was but a single light bulb barely hanging from the low ceiling._

_And there was a man behind her mother, looming over her, a pair of scissors in his hands. He was different this time too. Still, the Little One's breath shook as she saw him grab a clump of her mother's hair and opened the scissors up to expose their blades. A sudden stroke of courage washed over her like the spring waters that she and her mother bathed in back on Naboo._

"_Mother!" She screamed, running from her corner of the room that the men had dragged her to after they…._

_The Little One's hand flew to her hair. Pulling several locks of red in front of her face, she sighed in relief to know it was still there. Maybe she could stop it this time? _

"_Go back and wait, girl." He spat, but a wide grin soon reached his face. "It'll be your turn soon."_

"_Don't speak to her like that,"_

_The man's smile was lost once he heard the older woman hiss those words at him. Carefully, he grazed his fingertips over her neck, and the jarring grin was soon back again. The Little One could hear every beat of her heart as she watched her mother try to fight back any ounce of fear on her face as he touched her. The man moved a strand of hair from in front of her ear and began to twirl it around his finger. He leaned into her ear, whispering something._

_An audible gasp escaped the mother's lips, and the Little One saw fresh tears course down her cheeks._

"_Mother," she spoke softly._

"_QUIET!" _

_The Little One cowered under his yell, and she backed away as his eyes pierced into her. She then looked back at her mother; begging, pleading. _

_She took a shaking breath. "Close your eyes, baby. Just close them."_

_Shaking her head, she said, "No,"_

_The man slowly ran his fingers through the mother's hair. "I would listen to the pretty woman if I were you, girl."_

_Swallowing, the Little One blinked back her tears, and returned her look back to her mother. The woman smiled sadly, mouthing "I love you,"_

_So, the Little One closed her eyes, being the obedient daughter._

_The sounds of her mother's breath hitching every few moments haunted her ears like a constant ringing bell. Yet, she did not open her eyes; for the first minute that is._

_She had only meant to peek at what was going on for a second, but once she opened her eyes, she felt as if she could never close them again. Tears were flowing freely from her eyes as she witnessed in horror at the sight._

_He was cutting her mother's hair._

_The Little One flung her body at the man, releasing a scream deep within her. She did everything in her power; pulled his hair, scratch his face, kicking her legs into his body with all her might. Anything to stop him from laying a hand on her mother again._

_But, he was much stronger than her._

_The man threw her off him with ease and pinned her to the floor. Her eyes followed his movements; one moment, he was holding her down, the next, he swiftly grabbed the scissors from the ground, aiming it above her. She let out a small scream in surprise and could only close her eyes._

_Then, a stabbing pain was felt in her abdomen._

* * *

The Little One's eyes opened gently; being met with the dark interior of the storage room she was being held in. Slowly, she sat up, running her hand over the top of her head; the floral head scarf was still there, and her hair was still hidden from the world.

Hearing a gentle cooing sound from right next to her, she stood up on her feet, and gently slid the blanket off the baby that was before her. She placed her finger into the bassinet for him to grab.

The Child giggled softly as he squeezed her finger, and the Little One wanted to desperately smile at him; but, her lips did not move one bit. As she watched the Child continue to play with her finger, she leaned down and whispered.

"I shall get us out of here, I swear it."

She felt the baby's small giggle tickle her ear, and that was when her lips upturned just a little. That is, until the sound of the one door to the room opening, and heavy footsteps were heard. Letting out a small gasp, the Little One pressed one of the buttons on the center of the bassinet, and the top of it closed, shielding the Child away from danger.

The Little One rushed around the room, and went behind the crates. She got on her hands and knees, beginning to dig the sand away. The footsteps belonging to a Nikto, were getting louder and louder, causing the Little One's hands to move faster. Soon, she picked up the hand blaster she managed to keep a hold of with her from long ago; long after those men stole away her red hair.

Taking one last breath, she readied herself as the footsteps came closer. She hugged the wall of crates, and could basically feel the breath of the Nikto on her neck, and the low growl in her ears.

A scream was heard from above her, and she whipped her head around, firing the blaster without taking another look. The Nikto let out a cry in pain as he fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder. The Little One dropped her arms, holding the blaster to her side, and she panted heavily.

Standing up, she cradled one of her ears, and winced at the sound of the Nikto wailing at the pain in his shoulder. Still, the Little One couldn't even bare to think about ending its life. Her eyes soon fell to the blaster, that had belonged to the Nikto, on the floor just a few feet away from him.

Dropping her own blaster, she slowly made her way to it, keeping her eyes on the Nikto. When she looked away for just a moment to pick up the gun, a hand roughly grabbed her wrist. She shrieked in surprise, being pulled face to face with the Nikto's look of rage; to this day, she swore she could see red in his eyes.

"Let go," She groaned, trying to pull away from his grip.

The Nikto's hold only tightened, and growled in her ear.

"Stop it!" She rose her voice, now beginning to struggle. She fell onto the floor, cementing her feet into the ground and leaning back to pull away. The Nikto's other hand latched around her wrist, digging his nails into her skin.

The Little One let out a scream of pain, and the Nikto began dragging her across the ground. After only a few seconds, she saw the blaster she had been carrying right beside her. In the blink of an eye, the Little One picked it up with her free hand, and fired at the Nikto's head.

The creature limply fell; thankfully, his hands had loosened around her wrist, and she pulled away just in time before he could take her down with him.

And she sat there, on the sand, her mouth agape at the sight of the now dead Nikto in front of her. Slowly, without taking her eyes off the body, she scooted away, and, at a safe distance, got back onto her feet. She felt lightheaded once she stood up, and leaned against the crates to steady herself.

She had just murdered a living thing in cold blood.

Placing her hands on her face, she quickly wiped away any oncoming tears, and took deep, even breaths. The Little One was just beginning to feel her heart returning to normal when several shots from outside the storage room caused her to jump.

The Little One whipped her head to the large gate that was the one thing between her and death, her breath beginning to waver once again. Looking back at the open door, she saw several Niktos rush past it, and she gasped, backing away. There was no way she and the Child could make it out unscathed.

So, without trying to look at the body, now beginning to smell, she rushed around the room, finding something to cover the Child's bassinet. She settled on a fishing net, and laid it over gently. The shooting from outside continued, and her mind was moving faster and faster, trying desperately to figure out what to do next. But, that was the thing.

She had no idea what do to next. The Little One couldn't walk out with the bassinet and a hand blaster without being attacked by several Niktos.

The Little One subconsciously moved her hand to the back of her shoulder, feeling the gash beginning to scab over; graciously given by the Niktos when she had tried escaping after the first few days. That is when she met the Child, and it hadn't taken long for her to become attached to him.

So, the Little One stood in the middle of the room she had been held prisoner in for weeks on end. Staring solely at the gate, and standing with her feet planted in front of the Child's bassinet.

Then, there was silence.

The blaster fire had stopped, and her curiosity peaked. Approaching the gate with caution, she pressed her ear up against it.

Her face dropped once she could hear voices muffled behind it. It was the first time in weeks she heard voices that were similar to hers; the Niktos didn't really speak much to her, and even then, they did not sound kind.

Then, they stopped. The Little One pulled away from the gate, and something inside of her told her to get out of the way. Following it, she dashed behind the crates, snatching up her own hand blaster as she ran.

The moment she hid behind those crates, the shots of blasters ricocheting off the walls flooded her ears, along with an explosion she had heard from earlier outside of the room. All the sounds promptly stopped, until the loud _crash! _of the huge gate collapsed onto the sand.

The sound of something beeping rhythmically caused her ears to perk up, and a voice, obviously belonging to a droid was heard.

"The tracking fob is still active. My sensors indicate there are two life forms present."

With one hand, the Little One covered her mouth to silence her breathing, and the other was used to clutch her blaster tightly; ready to use it if she absolutely had to. She could hear them walk around a little more, and then they stopped. Tempting fate, she peeked around the crates, and pulled away, biting her tongue to not make a sound.

That is when she heard the bassinet open, and she quietly set her blaster down to cover her mouth with both hands.

"Wait," a new voice spoke over her panicking thoughts. "they said _fifty _years old."

The droid said. "Species age differently. Perhaps it could live many centuries…Sadly, we will never know."

The Little One's eyes nearly popped out of her head once she heard the monotonic voice say those words. Still, she did not even move to peek out from the crates she hid behind.

"No," the man spoke up. "we'll bring it in alive."

"The commission was quite specific. The asset was to be terminated."

She listened as the droid brought his blaster up to the Child's bassinet, and that was when the Little One finally acted. She picked up her hand blaster, and took several deep breaths before revealing herself.

Then, a shot echoed throughout the room, and she felt her world slowing down when the sound of something crashing to the floor met her ears. Instead of looking around the corner, the Little One slowly began to stand up from where she was hiding.

It was a tall, armored man who was staring down at the baby. Her eyes trailed to the droid, who was now lying on the ground, unmoving. The stranger had killed it to protect the Child. Still, the Little One's look of fear was now of spite. Standing taller, she aimed her blaster at him.

But, she couldn't pull the trigger.

He gave her no reason to shoot him, and he could not even see her at all. Before she could ponder in whether to end his life or not, he spun around to face her; his own blaster aimed at her.

Once he saw her, his stance lessened just a little, but he still kept the blaster on her.

"Hey," he said to her. "just take it easy, and put the gun down."

She didn't hesitate one bit. If anything, she tightened her hold on blaster, and darkened her eyes at the armored man just a few feet in front of her. What he did next, nearly made her completely disoriented.

The man slowly crouched to the ground, and placed his blaster on the floor, his face never leaving hers. His tone sounded gentler as he spoke.

"I'm not going to hurt you, or the kid in the carrier. You don't have to be afraid of me."

Her eyes softened just a little at his tone, but she quickly hardened them again as she slowly came out from behind the boxes, still keeping the blaster on him. She nearly let out a noise of surprise when she saw him gradually raise his hands up in surrender.

She could have shot him then and there; he knew where she was, and she had no reason at all to believe that he wouldn't hurt her nor the Child.

Then, she took one long look at the bassinet, and the Child that was inside of it. Looking back at the man in armor, who had indeed saved the Child's life, she sunk to the ground, and placed her own blaster down.

He gave her a nod. "What is your name?"

No response. Only her lips in a thin line, and her eyes practically trying to bore into his soul. Sighing, the man stood up and held his hand out for her to take. She got up on her own, now avoiding his gaze at all cost.

He sighed, grabbing onto the bassinet and pulling it gently behind him. The Little One tensed at this, and he almost knew immediately; letting go of it to turn around and say.

"Stick close to me,"

**###**

**Well, hello there everyone! It's been quite some time since I've been on , but I'm happy to be back for a while! I got Disney+ for Christmas, and instantly fell in love with "The Mandalorian". So much so, I had decided to write a small "what if" story where there was another child who was with "Baby Yoda". I hope you will enjoy what I have planned for these three characters, and the path I will take this story.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Name

The Little One walked with her head down, and her arms handcuffed right in front of her. She had tried to run away at least three times now, but the Mandalorian was always successful in catching her. He never did hurt her though, not on purpose. She might have skidded her knees when he pulled her off the ground, but she didn't even dare let out a cry in pain anytime they stung.

It was after the second escape attempt that he finally handcuffed her, believing she couldn't run away from him. How wrong he was when she took off in another mad sprint a few minutes later. She never did make a noise whenever he caught her; she stayed silent ever since he had found her hours ago back in the abandoned storage room.

The three, including the Child, were walking through a steep canyon when the Mandalorian had stopped them ever so suddenly. All was quiet, causing the Little One to look around suspiciously. Was he going to kill her? No, she remembered the bounty hunters who would come to Naboo every so often when she was smaller; usually, people payed less for dead bounties.

That was the moment when three Trandoshans leapt from the rocks, and in the path of the Mandalorian. The Little One let out a gasp as he battled every single one of them, sometimes using their own scepters against them. When she saw one of the creatures getting closer to the Child's bassinet, the Little One pushed it out of the way. That caused her to obtain a punch to her cheek, and making her collapse onto the rocky ground with a groan.

Once the Mandalorian heard her cry, he soon used his rifle to hit the attackers out of the way. As soon as he defeated the other two, he aimed his rifle directly at the Tandoshan rushing over to the Child and Little One, and fired.

The monster disintegrated right in front of the Child's eyes as it was just a hair away from him. The Mandalorian soon looked over, and saw the girl laying down on the floor in a ball. Sighing, he walked over to her, and kneeled down to her height.

He reached out to her, but she soon started fighting him, letting out panicked winces as she was kicking and hitting him.

"Wait, hey, hey!" He spoke sternly, grabbing her arms. "It's me. You're fine, alright?"

Thankfully, she calmed down just a tad, and nodded. Sighing to himself, the Mandalorian got up from the ground, and pulled her up without warning. The girl had a scrape on her cheek, but other than that, she looked alright.

The beeping of a tracking fob was what caused the Mandalorian to turn at the sound. He sighed heavily, and urged the other two on.

After another half hour of walking, the Mandalorian decided to stop and set up camp. As the Child and Little One sat by each other, both looking around the area for anything interesting to gaze at for a few hours, the Mandalorian placed a sort of laser to his upper arm; seemingly stitching up a gash.

That seemed to be the thing the children looked to for a sort of entertainment. Even if the light was bright for the Little One's eyes, she couldn't tear her gaze away from it. She only did once she noticed the Child slowly making his way to the Mandalorian, reaching his little arm out to him.

Huffing, the Mandalorian picked up the Child, put him back into the bassinet, and walked back to the spot he was sitting at. Now, the Little One knew that she should have picked up the Child as soon as he left the bassinet again, but she simply sat there in silence as she watched him go back to the Mandalorian; plus, her hands were cuffed together.

Once again, he sighed heavily, picking up the Child, and closing the bassinet once he was safely in there. The Mandalorian then looked to the Little One with a scarf covering her hair. She looked back at him with just pure wonder in her eyes.

Shaking his head, he walked back to the area he had been, and sat back down, picking up the laser again.

"Get some rest." He grumbled. "We'll have a longer way to walk tomorrow."

The girl didn't say anything once more, just continued to stare at him. She had an odd pair of eyes; there wasn't anything off about them on the outside, but, with how she continuously stared at him, almost as if she was looking right through him, didn't put the Mandalorian at ease.

So, he simply turned away from the girl's eyes, and did not look at her for the rest of the night.

* * *

_She opened her eyes at the sound of her mother whimpering. Not this, not again._

_In the same, dingy room, her mother was sitting in the middle of it, under the same hanging light. The Little One didn't even bother to run over to her, knowing exactly how this variation of the dream would end._

"_My baby," her mother looked up, smiling. "my baby. Won't you come here?"_

_She shook her head, feeling her mouth beginning to form into a frown; she'd have to watch it again. Her mother's look of surprise did not help one bit._

"_What's wrong? What are you afraid of?"_

_A sob was released from the Little One's mouth, and she quickly covered it with both hands to silence herself. The mother swallowed._

"_Baby," she cooed, reaching her hands out. "could you please come over here? I miss you."_

_The Little One's eyes soon looked over her mother's shoulder, and saw a tall man looming over her; a single pair of scissors encased in his hands. She looked away, covering her ears, yet still being able to hear her mother's screams as the scissors were stabbed into her skin._

_Over_

_And_

_Over_

_Again_

_Once the screams and wails belonging to her mother slowly died away, she uncovered her ears, and slowly turned around. Unlike the other times she had turned around in her dreams, the body was missing._

_This caused the girl to approach the center of the dingy room in complete confusion. She cannot count on her fingers how many times she's had this particular dream, but, the body has never disappeared._

"_Girl,"_

_She let out a little squeal, jumping away from the voice and turning around to see who it was. Once again, like many of the other times, it was a man she could not remember ever interacting with in her life. His face was pale, and his cheeks sunken in._

"_What beautiful hair you have," he gave her a crooked smile. "would you mind it giving to me?"_

_The girl ran a hand over her head; sure enough, her long, red hair was still there. Swallowing, she looked away from the lanky man in front of her._

"_No," she said softly, sniffling a little._

_She had expected the looming figure to grow furious, and march his way over to her; but, instead, she saw the silhouette shake his head, and sigh._

"_What a shame. I'll have to steal it from you then."_

_The Little One felt her heart drop at how calm his tone was, and began to back away, shaking her head rapidly._

"_No, no!" was all she could say as he got closer to her; squeezing the scissors tightly in one hand. _

_He didn't stop for a moment as he swayed over to her. Then, in a rush, he grabbed her shoulder, roughly forcing her to the ground. The Little One screamed as loud as she could, scratching and kicking him to get off of her. When he took a clump of her hair in between his fingers, she froze._

_The Little One laid helplessly on the floor as he cut off her hair; not being able to do anything but cry, and pray it would end soon._

* * *

She wasn't crying when the Mandalorian woke her up the next morning, to her surprise. The girl didn't even think about attempting to run away from him again; being too exhausted from the nightmare she had, despite sleeping. Even then, the desert ground wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep.

So, she just walked right beside the armored man and the Child in his levitating bassinet.

After hours of walking in silence, they arrived at what seemed to be a huge ship. The Little One would assume that it belonged to him; on account of the tension she felt from him once the three of them saw a horde of Jawas stripping the ship of its parts.

The Mandalorian dropped down into position, taking out his rifle from behind his back, and aiming at one of the Jawas. Of course, it was difficult to find the right one, since every single one of them was carrying something. When he settled on one, he fired, disintegrating the creature into dust.

The Little One gasped sharply and placed her hands over her mouth as she watched him continue to fire at any Jawa who caught his scope, and turned into dust. This man was nothing but a stone, cold killer in her eyes. What was he going to do with her and the Child?

Before she could even think of an answer, the girl watched the Sandcrawler speed off, and the Mandalorian leaping up from his previous position. He rigorously tapped some buttons on his arm, disarming the Child's basinet, then looked down at the girl.

"You," he hissed. "stay here!"

The armored man than raced down the ledge they were upon, and began to chase after the Sandcrawler after previously trying to shoot at its engine; it revealed to do nothing. Soon, the Mandalorian was climbing the vehicle hastily; he could feel his heart leap into his throat as he felt the machine beginning to close in on a rocky wall. Thinking on his feet, the Mandalorian found a landing awaiting for him to climb to the top.

The Jawas peeked their heads out of windows, and threw almost anything down onto the Mandalorian to try and slow him to a stop. As he was getting closer to the top, he threw down any creature that got in his way. Once he was finally at the top, he thought he could breathe again.

That is, until he was met with a whole clan of Jawas, all holding stun guns.

Of course, each and every one of them fired, paralyzing the Mandalorian in an instant. Unable to move at all, he fell backwards off the Sandcrawler, hitting the ground flat on his back. After the sharp pain hit him, he let unconsciousness take over him.

The Little One dragged the bassinet with her as she slowly made her way to the fallen Mandalorian. Looking around, she knew full well that she could have taken the Child with her and run away from him.

But, of course, he'd come after them, and he may not have been as patient as he was before. Besides, how much could she do with her hands basically tied together, and miles of desert ahead of her?

So, the Little One did the most logical thing she could think of when looking over the unconscious Mandalorian; she found a stick nearby, and lightly poked him with it.

She was shocked to say the least when he groaned after a minute of her constantly poking him. The girl dropped the stick, and backed away as he sat himself up slowly. The armored man looked over at the Little One and the Child in the bassinet.

Pushing himself up from the ground, the Mandalorian said.

"I thought I told you to stay put."

She said nothing, only avoiding his gaze and looking down; of course, now was the moment he would become angry at her. He sighed.

"Come on,"

The Little One looked up in shock as he began to walk in the opposite direction with the bassinet following. Why hadn't he hit her?

* * *

After several minutes of walking, the three had made it back to the disarrayed ship. It was stripped of all of its parts, and the Mandalorian sighed heavily as he made his way into the ship, and down into the bottom half.

Angrily, he slammed the doors shut after checking his armory; everything was gone. After climbing up the ladder, the Mandalorian made his way into the cockpit.

Of course, the Little One was completely puzzled as to why he was trying to power the ship up. Even if it still worked, the windows were completely shattered. But, alas, it did not start.

The bounty hunter looked down from one of the broken windows to see the Child and the Little One. He had been knocked out after falling from the Sandcrawler, and she didn't run away; why would she do it then? He watched as the Little One stared solely at the Child, and, for the first time, he saw her smile as she was playing some sort of game with his fingers.

Yet, once the Mandalorian walked out of the Razor Crest, the girl instantly pulled way from the Child, and stood up straighter. The bounty hunter relaxed his posture a little, and said to her.

"We're going to find help to get off of this wasteland, okay?"

She didn't say anything; only kept her head down, and nodded. He sighed, grumbling.

"Just wanted to prepare you."

The journey from the Razor Crest to wherever he was taking the children, was long and insufferable. Still, the Little One did not dare complain about being hot, or thirsty, or the handcuffs basically cutting into her skin.

The two humans didn't say a word to each other. The Little One thought she would have gone insane, but, thankfully, the Child was there with her. Even if they could not stop to play, just seeing him alive and well with her as he excitedly looked around the planet was enough.

Finally, the three of them came upon a homestead of some sort. The Little One was confused as to where they were, but the Mandalorian confidently walked up to the Ugnaught that was fixing a transmitter.

"I thought you were dead," He said when he took one look at the bounty hunter.

The Mandalorian did not respond, but picked the Child up out of his bassinet, and let him roam free just a little; he instantly fixated on a frog like creature. The Little One could only sit on the ground and watch him as he chased around the frog, letting out small giggles from time to time.

"These two were what was causing all the fuss?" The Ugnaught questioned after hopping down from the transmitter.

"They're children," The Mandalorian stated.

The Little One looked up at the mention of her and the Child beside her. She licked her lips, dry from the lack of water. She soon made eye contact with the Ugnaught, and he made his way towards her. The girl recoiled a little when he gently took her wrists, but he looked behind himself to the bounty hunter.

"Goodness sake, take these things off of her." He told him.

The Mandalorian tilted his head. "What?"

"These cuffs," he clarified. "they're too tight around her wrists. I'm astounded that they haven't drawn blood. Or perhaps they have, and you can't see it."

"She tried to run three times," he specified.

"When was the last time?"

The Mandalorian stood there with his arms crossed, his eyes shifting from the Little One and the Ugnaught. While the girl completely avoided eye-contact, the Ugnaught challenged him. Sighing, the bounty hunter squatted down, and disarmed the handcuffs off of her.

Sure enough, once they were off, two lines of red were marked around her wrists, along with some obvious thin cuts. The Ugnaught shook his head, before walking away from the two.

"It is better to deliver them alive."

The Mandalorian stood up, walking to him. "My ship has been destroyed. We're trapped here."

"Stripped," he explained. "not destroyed. The Jawas steal; they don't destroy."

"Stolen or destroyed, it makes no difference to me." The bounty hunter said a bit more hostel.

"Doesn't your ship have a defense mechanism? Surely this wouldn't have happened if you had set it." He stated, handing the Mandalorian a tool to help fix his gauntlet.

"That is not the issue at hand. My concern is getting my parts back."

The Ugnaught suggested. "You can trade."

"With Jawas? Are you out of your mind?"

"I will take you to them. I have spoken."

A gasp belonging to the Little One caused the two to turn at the sound, and witnessed the Child swallowing the frog creature whole.

"Hey!" The Mandalorian interjected. "Spit that out."

Yet, the Child did not listen, burping and giggling after he completely consumed the frog. The Little One covered her mouth to hide the slight smile playing upon her lips.

After a few more minutes, the Ughnaught saddled up his Blurgg and harnessed a small covering wagon behind it. Looking to the Little One, the bounty hunter held out his hand. She looked at it, then back up at his visor.

"Come on," he said a bit more strictly.

The girl simply stared at him, then turned over her shoulder and saw the Child still wandering around on his own. Not listening to the Mandalorian, she stood up on her own, took the Child into her arms, and set him back in his bassinet; rubbing the top of his head before turning back to the Mandalorian.

He hadn't said a word to her, figuring that it would only terrify her more; he was a bounty hunter, yes, and would not hesitate for a second to stun his bounties in anyway possible. Yet, she had done nothing to provoke him. So, he let her be, and crawl onto the wagon all on her own.

* * *

It had rained during the night the three of them traversed to where the Ughnaught was leading them to the Jawas. The Little One had hidden under a spare blanket the entire time, not wanting to get her headscarf too wet. Thankfully, the scorching hot sun dried their damp clothes when it was morning.

"Greetings!" the Ughnaught exclaimed once the Sandcrawler was in sight, and furious Jawas rushed to see them. He turned to the Mandalorian. "They really don't like you for some reason."

"Well, I did disintegrate a few of them." The armored man pointed out.

"You need to drop your rifle," The Ughnaught nodded to it.

"I'm Mandalorian," he said matter of factly. "weapons are a part of my religion."

"Then you're not getting your parts back."

He paused for a few moments, then responded with 'Fine', proceeding to set his rifle down and get out of the wagon. The girl was soon following after him, when he put both of his hands on her shoulders to stop her. She let out a sharp gasped and backed away from him quickly.

"Hey," he said, surprised. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just stay here, alright?"

Regaining her focus, the Little One nodded, then scooted closer to the Child. Sighing heavily, he turned back around, only to be met with Ughnaught once again.

"And your blaster,"

The Mandalorian stood stoically, and glared down at the Ugnaught. After a few seconds of bitter silence, the bounty hunter put his blaster in the wagon as the Ughnaught approached the Jawas in high spirits.

"Good day," He greeted.

The Jawas responded well, to which the Ughnaught waved over the Mandalorian to approach. He sat down on the ground as the Jawas began to speak in their native tongue, negotiating.

"They will trade all of your parts for your Beskar armor." The Ughnaught translated.

The Mandalorian said in anger. "I'm not going to trade for anything. These are my parts, they stole from me."

The Jawa, obviously in charge, started to speak; but, just as he did, the armored man stuttered in broken Jawa.

"They…they…belong…to me!"

Every single one of the Jawas burst out laughing, and the one in charge said something tauntingly to him; but, of course, the Mandalorian had no idea what it was.

"You understand this?!" He yelled, blasting the Jawas with fire, and causing several screams to tear from their throats.

"No!" The Ughnaught grabbed his hand, "Easy, easy there." After the Mandalorian calmed down, the Ughnaught waved his hands, and the head Jawa spoke up, making other demands.

"He is a Mandalorian," the Ughnaught explained. "he cannot give you his Beskar armor. What else may he trade?"

The head Jawa pointed behind them, revealing a small group of Jawas cornering both the Child and the Little One.

"Get away from them!" The Mandalorian yelled, scaring off most of them; yet, one stuck around, and proceeded to yank on the Little One's arm with her back turned.

The Little One let out a sharp yelp as he pulled on her, and yanked her arm away from him. The bounty hunter was up on his feet, and marched towards the wagon.

"Don't touch her!"

That was enough to make the lone Jawa run away, and for the Mandalorian to look over the girl. She scrunched herself up into a little ball, hiding herself away from the rest of the world. Still, the Child carefully pet her head as she was intaking shallow breaths.

"There must be something else," The Ughnaught questioned, running out of ideas.

The Jawas formed a circle, and were heard discussing amongst themselves. Soon, all turned back, and began speaking rapifly. The Ughnaught placed a hand on his face, sighing, while the Mandalorian seemed perplexed.

"The egg?" He questioned. "What egg?"

He was only given the response of the Jawas continuing to chant 'The egg' over and over again. Soon, they were all ushered into the Sandcrawler, standing in the bridge as they made their way to wherever the egg resided. The Jawas continued to chant about the egg as if it was some sort of relic. The Mandalorian sighed heavily, but soon bumped his head once the driver hit a bump in the road. All the Jawas laughed in unison, and the Little One had to bite the inside of her lip not to laugh.

Once the Sandcralwer had stopped, all of them were herded out, and it went from there. Now, the Little One had no idea the Mandalorian was going to let her accompany him. She figured that she would only get in his way. To make matters more confusing, he had also brought the Child with him. Still, the girl kept her mouth shut, and followed close behind him.

In what surprisingly seemed like no time, the two, along with the Child, were standing directly at the mouth of a cave. Looking down at the Little One, the Mandalorian commanded.

"You and the Child, go over there." He tilted his head in the direction.

The Little One followed his gaze, and tilted her head with a look of confusion. The Mandalorian explained.

"If anything happens, it'd be best for you two to stay out of the way. Clear?"

She nodded, and grabbed ahold of the bassinet without hesitance, walking to the area the Mandalorian had pointed to. Once they were a reasonable distance away, the bounty hunter walked into the cave, disappearing from the Little One's sight.

Just as she sat down to relax, the Little One heard rapid gun fire coming from the cave just after one minute. The girl sprang up at the sound, and stared at the mouth of the cave with her eyes going wide.

Then, the Mandalorian was thrown out of it, like a rag doll, and landed harshly on his back and into the mud. He held his head up, quickly taking notice of his chest plate, which hung loosely. Then, emerging from the darkness of the cave, was a Mudhorn letting out a guttural roar.

The Little One felt herself turn pale at the sight of the monster just a few yards away from her and the Child. Her eyes then found the Mandalorian flat on the ground; if he died, where would that leave her and the Child?

Letting out a grunt in pain, the Mandalorian stood up, and readied his rifle to blast the Mudhorn. Yet, still being subdued by the creature, he hesitated; giving the Mudhorn plenty of time to ram into him, and having his body fly a few feet away, landing back onto the muddy ground.

Panicking, the Little One tore off a piece of her dress in a rush, and picked up a stone just right next to her. Taking a deep breath, the girl placed the rock into the cloth of her dress, and began waving the Shepheard's slingshot, releasing it and causing the stone to roughly hit the Mudhorn's backside.

Letting out a roar in pain, the Mudhorn turned to the Child and Little One; his nostrils flared once he made eye contact with the girl wearing the headscarf. The girl felt the air leave her lungs as it began to rush towards them. Graciously, she jumped out of the way, and the Mandalorian, programmed with a control to the bassinet, moved it out of the monster's direction; having the Mudhorn crash into the rocky wall.

Turning back after gathering its bearings, the Mudhorn charged once again at the Mandalorian. Acting quickly, he released a blast of fire onto the creature, stunning him. As it cried out in agony, the bounty hunter used his grappling hook to attach itself onto the Mudhorn.

This was proven to be fatal though, when the Mudhorn began to drag him roughly on the floor, attempting to break free from the grappling hook. The armored man gave up, letting the creature go. The Mudhorn circled back around, and delivered another crucial blow.

The Mandalorian was set into shock. Laying flat on the surface, he couldn't hear anything, or almost feel any of the pain. Nothing registered in his brain for just a few seconds.

With the rest of his strength, the Mandalorian rose to one knee, a blade in his hand. The Mudhorn stomped on the ground, asserting its dominance as it stared down at the armored man.

The girl watched in shock as the bounty hunter, despite nearly being beaten to death, aimed the sharp blade right in front of him. This was up to her now.

But, she couldn't move.

This would be all her fault again.

If she couldn't snap out of it, another person would be dead all because she was too afraid.

The Mudhorn charged at the man only on one knee. He bowed his head, he would die as a warrior, and that is all that mattered.

Little did the two know, that, behind them, the Child rose his hand up in the air.

As the monster was going to strike down the Mandalorian, it promptly stopped. Then, before anyone could rationalize what was happening, it began to levitate in mid-air.

The Mandalorian couldn't help but to bring his head up to watch the Mudhorn float. The creature must have at least weighed a ton, how was this possible? Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Child in his bassinet; his hand was extended, and his face contorted as if he was trying his hardest to hold something. The bounty hunter put two and two together.

It was him that was doing this; the Child, the _infant _was causing the Mudhorn to levitate off the ground.

As soon as the Child had been able to lift the Mudhorn, he collapsed onto his back, and let go of the creature. The Mudhorn fell and got caught in the sinkhole, thrashing around desperately to get out.

In the end, the Mudhorn was stabbed to death by the Mandalorian.

Sighing in relief, the bounty hunter pushed himself up, and made his way over to the Child and to the Little One. The girl crossed her arms, holding herself and taking in shallow breaths; she hadn't noticed that tears were streaming down her cheeks until it was all over.

"You alright?"

His voice caused her to flinch, and she looked right up at him. Why was he asking her? She hadn't gotten hurt, and he was standing there, looking as if death had knocked on his door. The girl could only nod; barely.

Nodding back at her, the Mandalorian looked over her shoulder to check on the Child. He was knocked out, but still breathing. The bounty hunter looked back to the girl, slightly hunched over in nervousness.

"I'm going to retrieve the egg. I won't be gone for long, okay?"

She only nodded again, but did not look at him. Sure enough, after going inside the cave, the Mandalorian made it out quickly, carrying the egg out with both hands. He stopped in front of the girl, and tilted his head.

"Come on, we'll be out of here soon."

The girl did not nod this time. Not deciding to pay attention to it, the Mandalorian began to walk away from the cave, with the bassinet following. Yet, the girl remained motionless in her spot. She did not know why exactly, but so many thoughts were rushing through her head. In a matter of a few seconds, she couldn't take it anymore, and simply said.

"Odile,"

The Mandalorian stopped in his tracks. Her voice was what he expected it to be; girlish, childlike, fearful, innocent…What he wasn't expecting, was her sudden outburst to finally speak. He turned around, staring right at the girl's uncomfortable look.

She swallowed, and trembled under pressure. Pointing to herself, she stammered.

"I…Odile."

He continued to stare at the girl, and how she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. Soon, he just turned back around, and said.

"Let's go,"

* * *

Once again, they walked in silence. The Little One, Odile, would walk at the same pace of the bassinet; waiting desperately for the Child to wake up. The Mandalorian ignored her for the most part, but would look back every few minutes to make sure she was stable.

Soon, the three found their way back to where the Ughanught and Jawas were. The Ugnaught saw them, and smiled proudly.

"Mando!" He called, causing the Jawas to return as they were about to leave, believing they were dead.

"We have it," The Mandalorian said tiredly. "we got the egg."

The Jawas took the egg eagerly, slicing off the top half and digging their hands in to eat the yellow, sticky yolk. The Mandalorian and Ughanught shook their heads, and they walked back to their wagon, and the Jawas to their Sandcrawler.

"I'm surprised you waited," The Mandalorian admitted.

"I'm surprised you took so long," The Ughanught replied wittingly.

The wagon was piled with the parts to the Razor Crest, and the Ugnaught sat upon his Blurrg, steering the wagon. The Mandalorian and Odile sat at the front of the wagon, and the Child following along in his bassinet, still resting.

"Is it still asleep?" The Ughanught asked after a while.

The bounty hunter rocked the bassinet gently. "Yes,"

"Was it injured?"

"Not physically."

"Explain it to me again," The Ughnaught sighed. "I still don't understand what happened."

He shook his head. "Neither do I,"

"The girl," the man riding the Blurgg turned around slightly. "did she know of this?"

The Mandalorian looked down at the Little One beside him. She acted as if she wasn't aware they were talking about her.

"Hey," he spoke softly, trying to get her attention.

She continued to stare forward, her lips in a thin line. The bounty hunter sighed, and looked back to the Ughanught, shaking his head. He wasn't going to bother her; there was no reason for him to.

He was just going to pretend he didn't see only one tear run down her cheek as she continued to stare at the desert in front of her.

By nightfall, they all had returned to the Mandalorian's ship.

"There's no way we're going to make this work without a maintenance facility." He spoke honestly. "This is going to take days to fix."

"If you care to help, it might go faster." The Ughnaught handed him tools to fix his armor. "There is much work to do."

As the Mandalorian was about to walk off on his own, the shifting from behind him caused the man to turn at the noise. It was the Little One pushing herself out. He stopped her, holding his hands out in front of him.

"What are you doing?"

Odile swallowed, and her lips quivered before finally speaking softly. "I…want to help."

The bounty hunter shook his head. "You're too weak, just lie down."

She didn't follow through at first, simply staring at him with the same, peculiar eyes she stared at him with the other night. Then, after an uncomfortable amount of silence, she hesitantly laid herself flat on the front of the wagon, looking up at the stars.

The Mandalorian and Ughnaught worked the whole night away, putting the Razor Crest together piece by piece as the children slept. By morning, the ship was fully refurbished, and both Odile and the Child were wide awake, sitting in the cockpit of the Razor Crest.

"I can't thank you enough." the Mandalorian thanked. "Please allow me to give you a portion of the reward."

The Ughanught shook his head. "I cannot accept. You are my guest, and I am therefore in your service."

"I could use a crew member of your ability, and I can pay you handsomely." He beckoned.

"I am honored, but I have worked a lifetime to finally be free of servitude."

The armored man nodded understanding. "I guess all I can offer you I my thanks."

"And I offer mine. Thank you for bringing peace to my valley." The Ugnaught left the ship, and mounted his Blurrg, before saying back. "And good luck with the children. May they survive and bring you a handsome reward. I have spoken."

The Mandalorian nodded, closing the door. Heading up to the cock pit, he saw the Child resting in his bassinet on one side, and the Little One dozing off in one of the chairs on the other.

Shaking his head, the bounty hunter fired up the ship, and the Ugnaught watched as it took off; signaling for him to have a safe journey. The Razor Crest left the planet with ease, and the Mandalorian began to put coordinates for another planet. He looked back at the bassinet, and the Child was still sleeping.

"Where are you taking us?"

He glanced in the direction of the voice, and saw Odile's eyes gazing up at him in a mix of curiosity, and fear. The Mandalorian stared at her for another moment, then turned back around to face the front.

It was best to say nothing at times like this.

The Little One swallowed, forgetting about the question, and staring out the window. All the while, pinching herself; she could not go to sleep again.

* * *

**Howdy y'all, I'm in quarantine! Yay, I don't update for over a month, and I come back to Earth being closed, not being able to celebrate my Dancing Queen birthday with a ton of friends, cancelling the spring musical, cancelling my first prom, and not being able to see my friends. Yet, compared to several places around the world, I have it easy.**

**Thank you to all who have been patient with these updates, and for kicking my story off! Like, damn, the first chapter was short and just a mini introduction to what I have in store. I hope all of you are excited to see how I'll develop Odile, and how her story will come forward more and more with these chapters.**

**Also, here's the pronunciation for the Little One:  
Odile= "O-deel"**


	3. Chapter 3: The Eyes

Odile's eyes were heavy as she looked out the window again. For the past few hours, the Little One had tried to count all the stars around her in order to keep herself from falling asleep. It seemed to have work, because, for the past few hours, she'd counted four hundred and thirty-two. She knew that there were so much more, but she lost count several times, and had to start over.

The Mandalorian hadn't said one word to her for those few hours either. He'd glance at her once every hour, but nothing else. The Child hadn't woken up either and Odile was beginning to worry just a little.

It was when a 'beep' alerted the small girl, and she looked to the front, where the noise had been made. A hologram appeared in front of the Mandalorian, and a man began to speak.

"Mando, I've received your transmission. Wonderful news! Upon your return, deliver the quarries to my client. I have no idea if he wants to eat the smaller of the two or hang it on his wall, but he's very antsy. Safe passage. You know where to find me."

He shut off the hologram, only to then notice the Child had the knob of the Razor Crest's accelerator in his mouth as if it were teething. The Mandalorian shook his head and reached into the Child's mouth to take it.

"It's not a toy." He grumbled, screwing the knob back on. After he did, he lifted the Child by the collar of his clothing, then placed him back into his bassinet.

Usually, the Little One would find herself smiling or even giggling at a moment like this. And yet, her mouth remained straight, and her eyes were droopy. Still, she couldn't help but ask.

"What are quarries?"

He turned at the sound of her voice, his movements making it seem he was surprised to hear her. He stated, not asked.

"You didn't sleep at all."

Odile felt a sudden pit in her stomach. Swallowing, she dropped her gaze down to her feet hanging from the chair, and shook her head. The Mandalorian turned away from her after no audible response, and continued on driving the ship.

Usually, the Little One would find herself repeating her question over and over until she'd get an answer. And yet, again, her mouth remained straight, and her eyes were droopy.

* * *

It wasn't that long until they were finally back on solid ground again. The Mandalorian led both the Child and Little One out of the Razor Crest, and he soon pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Odile gasped lightly at the sight, immediately hiding her wrists.

The Mandalorian ignored her reaction, but gently took both of her hands, raising them up and putting the cuffs around them.

They weren't tight at all this time…if anything, they were almost loose. Still, he barely acknowledged her as he just stood back up, and placed his hand on her shoulder. He began to lead her in the direction of a nearby town, and the bassinet containing the Child followed.

Odile felt as if almost all eyes were on her as they passed through the town. Perhaps, they weren't on her though, but the Mandalorian beside her. She had never seen one per say, the girl had only heard of them in stories from times when the whole village would gather together at the fire pit and speak of legends or family tales.

Those were always her favorite times.

She and the Child were soon led down to a smaller building. Without warning, the Mandalorian knocked sharply on the door. In an instant, a droid popped out from beside it, causing poor Odile to let out a gasp. The Mandalorian simply held up a card to the droid, it scanned it, then soon disappeared back into the wall.

That was when two Stormtroopers walked out of the door, and the Little One felt her blood run cold.

She was only six when the Battle of Endor occurred, but she would forever remember the excitement and pure joy of everyone around her when it was announced that they had won. People ran out of their houses, cheering, crying, and every other emotion that resulted from victory. It seemed as if all of Naboo was alive and awake the whole night. From a young age, she was taught to fear those who wore white armor and served the Empire.

Yet, here she was, with two of them towering over her.

They escorted them into the building, soon leading them down a long corridor. As the Little One walked with the Mandalorian by her side, she felt as if the walls were slowly becoming narrower with every step she took. She was so paranoid, she hadn't noticed the stormtrooper in front of her harshly tugging on the Child's bassinet.

"Easy with that." The Mandalorian growled softly.

"_You _take it easy." The stormtrooper shot back at him, grumbling. Odile breathed in through her nose, shutting her eyes tightly as she kept walking.

This was not happening. This was not happening, this was not happening, this was not-.

Her thoughts were silenced when she felt a familiar gloved hand on her shoulder. Opening her eyes slowly, she saw the Mandalorian resting his hand on her. The touch wouldn't be initially perceived as comforting, but given the circumstances, Odile felt a hint better.

They were soon led into a room, and the first people the Little One saw were a man wearing circular glasses, and an older man with a medal around his neck, and his hair (what was left of it) was beginning to gray.

The man with a medal approached the bassinet and the Little One with a fob that was beeping as if it would explode. He grinned.

"Yes." He breathed a sigh of relief, and the man with glasses, whom Odile could only assume was a doctor, pulled out some sort of scanner.

He scanned the Child first, and his little mewls of the red lasers getting into his eyes nearly made Odile tear up. The doctor nodded to himself.

"Very healthy, yes. Now, the girl…"

The scanner was now on her, and she hissed slightly at the bright red light. She knew she was being too sensitive, but, at that moment, nothing else mattered.

"She's remarkable as well." The doctor said in pleasure, looking at the man or the 'Client'.

The Client stood back up, solely looking at the Mandalorian. "Your reputation was not unwarranted."

"How many fobs did you give out?" He asked as soon as the Client finished.

He stood up taller, speaking. "These assets were of extreme importance to me, I had to ensure their delivery. But, to the winner go the spoils."

Reaching from under the counter, the Client pulled out a comtono container, and set it on top of the table. He pressed a few buttons on the top, and it opened to reveal several bars of Beskar. The Mandalorian approached it, pulling out one to inspect it and to make sure it was real. The Client just smiled, saying.

"Such a large bounty for such small packages."

It was then that Odile felt another hand on her arm, and she knew it belonged to the doctor. She wanted nothing more than to scream in his face until her lungs collapsed, and then to run out of the building, never looking back.

But, she was merely frozen in her own mind, and had no control as the doctor slowly forced her feet to move. The bassinet was following them as the doctor was leading the two to a door, obviously going into another room. Before the man in glasses could send her and the Child away, she looked back at the Mandalorian.

She tried her hardest for it to be a final look of rage; wanting for him to feel absolutely guilty above everything for sending her and the Child off to what could possibly be their death.

The Child whimpered as he also gave one last look at the Mandalorian. Just like that, the door behind them was shut, and they were completely separated from him.

For years, the Mandalorian had seen the looks his bounties would give him when he would return them to those who had asked for them. They were all the same; sadness, fury, fear, etc. But, the look that the Little One gave him as she was being led away, would stay with him for quite some time.

* * *

"What is your name?"

The Little One looked up from the small toy the man with glasses had given her. Doctor Pershing was what he called himself. After her and the Child were taken into another room, they were met with a small group of stormtroopers.

They separated her and the baby, all the while she screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping someone would hear her. Of course, they did, but they did nothing to help. The troopers had thrown her into a small recovery room of some sort, and she was left there for at least an hour before the doctor came in, handing her a small, Wookie shaped toy, and setting down a few sheets of paper.

So, there they were, as she sat on the bed, slightly hunched over.

And she said nothing in response.

Doctor Pershing pursed his lips. Making eye contact with the floor, he then quickly looked back up at her, smiling slightly.

"Can you tell me how old you are, at least?"

Odile swallowed, squeezing the stuffed Wookie in her hands. In her mind, she knew she could at least give him her age, but something unknown was forcing her not to. At the same time…would they kill the Child if she were too stubborn?

So, setting the toy down next to her, she rose up both hands, showing ten fingers. Then, lowered nine of them to only hold up one. Doctor Pershing nodded, asking.

"Ten?"

She shook her head almost vigorously, putting more emphasis on the single finger she had up. Finally, the man with glasses made an 'O' shape with his mouth, nodding again.

"Eleven, I see. That was my bad." He chuckled. "You look much younger."

The only thing the Little One could think of doing was shrugging in response. She took the Wookie back into her hands, brushing his fur gently with her fingers. She heard Doctor Pershing's chair move, and him grabbing a few papers.

"Hey, I want you to look at this."

So, she did. Drawing her gaze up from the toy, she looked at a piece of paper listed with hundreds of numbers. A particular row was circled in dark red.

"Do you know what midi-chlorians are?"

In all of her life, Odile had never heard that word before. In reply, she shook her head as she continued to blankly stare at the list of numbers, not reading them at all.

"You see," he explained, using a pencil to point to the red circle. "this is you, and how much percentage of midi-chlorians are in your body. Now, I'm not going to go too in depth with what they specifically are, because I spent too many years having that explained to me in school."

Doctor Pershing laughed at himself as if he had told a fairly entertaining joke. To Odile, of course, nothing about what was happening at that moment was amusing to her. He cleared his throat, getting back on track.

"All it means though, is that you're a special little girl." He leaned in, a gentle smile on his face.

Odile bit the inside of her mouth, forcing herself to remain motionless. She knew all along she wasn't doing a good job at it, but she continued to try. This only led to the doctor shaking his head, and giving her a sympathetic look.

"I know you're a part of the Trichonom." He sighed. "Your hair is very…sacred, to your religion, I understand. I'm not going to sit here and act as if I'm a professional, but I'm well aware why you wear that scarf on your head."

The Little One squeezed the Wookie tight once again, knowing her knuckles were turning white without having to look at them. Even though he could see it, he still continued.

"What that man did to you, was unforgivable, but this does not mean you have to live in the shadow of that. You are a _strong _little girl, stronger than he will ever be."

She didn't even relax a hint at his words, her eyes only grew darker, and she was beginning to tug at the toy's limbs, not just squeeze them. The doctor took notice of this, and shook his head. Standing up, he collected his papers, and walked towards the door.

"I'll be back in to check on you in a little bit. I'll bring you something to eat this time, I promise." He smiled. She said nothing, not even daring to look at him. Sighing to himself, Doctor Pershing placed his hand on the scanner, and the door opened.

"Where is he?"

The man with glasses stopped in his tracks, immediately looking back to see her now more alert and wearing a look of worry.

"The Child?" He asked, and she nodded. He smiled softly. "Do you want to see him?"

Her eyes grew wide, and she hopped off the bed, cradling the toy to her chest as she hesitantly approached him. Smiling, the doctor began to lead the Little One out of the room.

He was leading her down the hallway the stormtroopers had dragged her down previously. All had seemed quiet, until, lo and behold, another stormtrooper approached them.

"There's a possible intruder."

Doctor Pershing's eyes grew. "Excuse me?"

"The droid at the front door's head was yanked clean off. A few went to investigate but haven't returned yet. I suggest you-."

A loud explosion tore through the building, causing the Little One to let out a shriek; hugging the wall closest to her as the building shook, and her ears were ringing. Once the shaking stopped, she felt the trooper grab her arm forcefully, pulling her into some direction. Before she knew it, she ended up in another room.

The first thing that she saw, was the Child laying down on a table, hooked up to a machine.

Odile's face dropped, and she felt her chest beginning to constrict. Staring at the doctor with wide eyes, she asked.

"What-what-what did you do to him?"

Doctor Pershing frowned sadly at her broken tone. "Look," he began softly, kneeling down to her height and placing a hand on her cheek.

The girl gasped, flinching away from his touch, but was soon held back by him setting his other hand on her shoulder. She was forced to listen.

"Some of these people wanted to hurt you and the Child. I wasn't going to let that happen, so I'm doing all I can to keep you both safe."

Odile's ears were just beginning to return to normal, but him being this close to her only made yearn for the ringing in her ears to come back. Shaking her head, she backed away out of his hold.

"You're-you're hurting him."

"No," he said softly. "no, I'm not."

It was just then that her eyes were met with the interrogational droid floating in the air. In one of its clutches, a syringe obviously filled with some sort of medicine. The Little One pointed to it.

"What's that?"

Doctor Pershing looked behind himself, that back to her, shaking his head once again. "It's not going to do anything to him or you? Okay? Please, please, just trust me. I won't let-."

The door opening silenced his next thoughts, and Odile's jaw nearly dropped to the floor at the sight.

It was the Mandalorian.

Without any hesitation, he took one shot at the stormtrooper, and he was down in less than a second.

"No, no, no, please, please, no, no, no." The doctor pleaded as the interrogational droid flew towards the Child.

The Mandalorian soon shot down the droid, sparks flying everywhere. Then, he aimed his gun at the frantic doctor. The man pushed the girl behind him, waving his arms.

"Please, no, please don't hurt them, they're just children!"

Odile ran out from behind him, and to the Mandalorian's side. He then marched towards the doctor, pushing him out of the way to look down at the machine the Child was strapped into. Furiously, he aimed the gun back down at the man with glasses.

"What did you do to it?!"

He hid his face. "I protected him-I protected them! If it wasn't for me, they'd already be dead! Please…" He begged.

The Mandalorian quickly unlatched the Child from the machine that was holding him. Odile, without a falter, took the Child into her arms, hugging him closely to her. She then felt a soft hand on her back, quickly leading her out of the room.

When they were tiptoeing down the hall, he moved his hand to hold hers gently. He then leaned in, saying quietly.

"Don't let go of my hand."

She nodded, squeezing his hand a little tighter, along with holding the Child closer to her. It felt almost like a blur as they traveled throughout the building; wherever they turned and looked to, there was at least on Stormtrooper just around the corner, aiming their guns to them. Yet, of course, the Mandalorian fought each and everyone of them off perfectly, whether it was with a blaster, electrical shocks, or, to the Little One's surprise, a flamethrower. That one frightened her the most.

When the three made it back to the familiar room where the negotiations took place, four Stormtroopers entered.

"Freeze!" One commanded. "Don't move." They all encircled the three, each other aiming their guns at least at one of them.

"Hands up, drop the blaster!" Another one growled.

The Mandalorian aimed his gun upright. "Wait, what I have here is very valuable. Here."

He let go of Odile, placing his hand on her back once again, and gently pushing her down into a kneeling position. Confused at first, the girl soon placed the Child onto the floor, and the Mandalorian did the same with his blaster. Odile's eyes were soon drawn to a blue light on his wrist, and her mouth dropped.

"Get down." Was all he had to say before the Little One covered the Child with her own body. One by one, a missile hit each Stormtrooper, with a whistling noise following its impact; almost like a bird's tweet.

When the noise stopped, Odile slowly peeked her head up from the ground, and looked around herself. Every single one of them had been taken down. With no time to waste, she picked up the Child, and took the Mandalorian's hand after he obtained his blaster.

They walked out of the building, Odile still clinging onto the Mandalorian as she held the Child. It was almost as if one would have to cut her limbs off before she would let go of either of them. Yet, when the vigorous beeping of one fob reached her ears, that was when it began.

Then, there was another one on her other side.

And another one behind her.

Oh look, one in front of her now.

Another one behind her.

One to her left.

One to her right.

Front.

Back.

Left.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Left.

Just for a moment, she glanced over her shoulder to see just how many people were following them. She was only met with a squeeze to her hand from the Mandalorian, and she instantly turned back to keep her head forward. Still, it was only a matter of a few seconds before they were completely encircled by other bounty hunters.

"Welcome back, Mando!" Karga, the Mandalorian's once employer, stepped out from the crowd and greeted sarcastically. "Now, let go of the package's hand, and let her bring the other one to us."

Odile swallowed a sob that was about to escape her throat, only being able to hold it back with squeezing the Mandalorian's hand tightly. His free hand hovered over his gun.

"Step aside, I'm going to my ship." He demanded.

"You let go of the bounties and perhaps I'll let you pass." Karga taunted.

"They're coming with me."

Karga sighed. "If you truly care about those kids, you'll put them on the speeder, and we'll discuss terms."

"How do I know I can trust you?" He challenged.

The other man sighed. "Because I'm your only hope."

When Odile felt his hand loosen around hers, she deeply believed she was going to drop dead then and there. He…he was having doubts. He was thinking about giving them back, and just leaving as if nothing had ever happened.

Before she could know else was going on, he led her over to the speeder, and she felt bile slowly beginning to creep into her throat. Yet, she swallowed it, and took a deep breath to control any tears that threatened to follow.

The Mandalorian looked down at her as she tried to remain brave. She was unsuccessful when holding back her tears, and a few trickled down her cheeks. Then, she looked up at him.

Dread…

When she looked at him as the doctor led her and the Child away, he saw nothing but wrath in her eyes. He felt as if she was staring at him right through his beskar armor. Now, as she tries so hard to remain strong in front of him and everyone else around her, he sees pure dread in her eyes.

All because of the possibility of him giving them up.

The Mandalorian yanked his blaster out of the holster, shooting at one of the bounty hunters. Pushing the Little One into the speeder, her then rolled over into it himself, taking cover behind some cargo.

"Stay down!" He yelled, gently pushing Odile's head down so a blaster shot wouldn't hit her or the Child. Without any complaining, she kept her head low. The Mandalorian kept peeking his head up to shoot, but soon turned to the R2 unit at the head of the speeder.

"Drive." He commanded.

Fearful, the droid beeped a 'no!'. Becoming increasingly agitated, he aimed his gun at its head. "Drive!"

Thankfully, it listened, and began driving the speeder down a path leading to the Razor Crest. As it drove, the Mandalorian raised his blaster and shot at anyone in its way or getting close to them.

Karga, unbeknownst to everyone, shot the droids head himself, causing it to scream and to break. The speeder crashed into a cargo of barrels, and the Little Out in surprise, bracing herself as she held onto the Child.

As everyone began to slowly crowd around, they were soon met with a blast from a rifle, one of the bounty hunter's instantly disintegrating. People began to scream, trying to outrun the blast every time he fired, causing more and more people to turn into dust in a matter of less than a second. They then heard Karga's voice.

"That's one impressive weapon!"

Feeling his blood boiling, the Mandalorian yelled back. "Here's what I'm gonna do; I'm gonna walk to my ship, _with _the kids, and you're gonna let it happen."

"No, how about this?" Karga shook his head. "_We _take the kids, and if you try to stop us, we kill you and we strip your body for parts."

Odile felt a wave of hot breath on her skin. Looking behind herself, a scream tore through her throat at the sight of a bounty hunter with a knife above her. The Mandalorian heard her cry, and instantly electrocuted him with the same rifle.

The rest of the bounty hunters started to encircle the speeder, causing the Mandalorian to sit up and aim his flamethrower as the fire escaped from it. Yet, the flames only lasted for so long.

He felt his breath leave his lungs as he realized he was out of options. Glancing down at the Little One beside him, he looked to her eyes.

Nothing…

There was no wrath, there was no dread, there was nothing behind the look in her eyes that she gave him.

It was almost as if she was accepting now.

Even when he laid his hand on her shoulder to give her some sort of apology, her eyes did not change. That was when he looked down at the Child in her arms, also staring back at him. He made a cooing sound as he hid himself in his blanket. Odile hid him in her chest, shielding him from the rest of the world.

The loud noise of another gun brought them to attention.

Looking up into the sky, more blasts rained down, and everyone in the street watched in a mix of awe and horror as dozens of other mandalorians flew through the air on jetpacks; taking down any targets below.

"Get out of here, we'll hold them off!" One of them yelled to the three, shooting rapidly at others coming towards him.

"You're going to have to relocate the covert." The Mandalorian informed him.

He nodded. "This is the way."

"This is the way." The Mandalorian replied back.

Taking the Little One's hand into his once again, the two sprinted through the crossfire, staying low. Once they were out of the town, the Mandalorian and Odile ran into the Razor Crest with the door being previously opened.

"Hold it, Mando."

The two of them snapped around and saw Karga in the entrance of the ship, aiming a gun right at the Mandalorian's head.

"I didn't want it to come to this, but then you broke the Code." He preached.

Having enough, the Mandalorian released his grappling hook, triggering the carbonite device to go off and fill up the ship. He led the girl and baby to the back as Karga fired blindly in hopes of hitting something.

When he stopped, the Mandalorian took one shot at his chest, and Karga flew out of the ship. The Mandalorian pushed the girl up the ladder first, and he soon followed after her.

The Razor Crest soon took off once he sat down in the pilot's seat, and Odile put the Child in the seat on the other side of the cockpit. As the Mandalorian flew the ship higher until it was in the clouds, he looked out the window to his right, and saw one of the other mandalorians outside. Once the two looked at each other, they both saluted one another, and the one outside disappeared from sight.

Looking back to the front, the Mandalorian shook his head, saying to himself. "I gotta get one of those."

Odile's eyes traveled back to the Child's chair, but then saw him crawling over to the control panel. In the corner of his eye, the Mandalorian knew he was coming over, and knew exactly what he wanted. So, he unscrewed the ball on top of the accelerator, and handed it to the Child's outstretched hand.

And for the first time in many days, as the Razor Crest took off into orbit, the Little One smiled as she watched the Child play with the ball.

"Where'd you get that?"

The Little One looked up at the Mandalorian with curious eyes when he asked her. Looking down at what he was gazing at, she was surprised to see the Wookie toy in her hands.

She never let go of it.

* * *

It must have been at least twenty minutes when the sound of the Mandalorian getting up from the pilot's seat caused Odile to look up from her toy. He stopped right next to her.

"Come on."

With that, he opened the hatch and climbed down the ladder. Pausing for a moment, the Little One held the stuffed animal closer to her chest before following him down.

When she was on solid ground, she looked to see the Mandalorian standing in front of a small door next to the toilet. Approaching him with an odd look on her face, he started speaking.

"I just…" he thought, trying to find his words. "I know you haven't been sleeping, and that the cockpit isn't the most comfortable place, so…"

Without any other words, he pressed a button on the panel, and the door slid open, revealing a small bed in the already small room. It was more of a closet if anything.

"You're welcome to sleep here if you want." He offered, stepping out of the way for her.

Slowly, Odile walked past him, and slowly sat on the edge of the bed. Looking around, the walls were tight, but not as if they would close in on her at any time. She brought her eyes back to the Mandalorian and nodded.

He brought his hand in, tapping on another panel on the inside of the room. "If you want to leave, you just press on this, and it'll open. And you just reach up to turn the lantern off if you want it to get dark. Okay?"

She nodded again, still holding the toy close to her. Without knowing what else to do, the Mandalorian nodded back at her, and turned to leave. Just as he was about to climb the ladder, he heard her.

"Thank you."

It was quiet. It was so quiet, he wouldn't have heard her if she hadn't poked her head out a little to say it. When he did look back to see her, half of her face was still hidden behind the small amount of wall that separated them.

She was hiding from him.

"Come get me if you need anything." He reassured, trying his best to sound gentle.

He didn't even wait to see if she nodded as he then climbed up the ladder. When he was out of sight, Odile shut the door, reached up, and turned the lantern off. When the girl was encased in darkness, she sunk into the mattress, laying down flat.

It was the most comfortable thing she had ever laid on since she was taken from her home. Yes, she been on another bed the same day, but what was different this time, was the odd feeling of safety that embraced her the moment she was in the ship after all the fallout.

Reaching up to her head, she loosened her scarf, and slipped it off. The Little One, with the one not containing the headpiece, ran her hand through her short hair. It was still there, and she was one of the lucky ones to not have had her entire head shaved, but, to her, most of it was gone.

A man had still cut her hair, forcing her to hide her shame from the rest of the world with a headscarf another woman had quickly made for her as soon as it happened. Yes, her hair would grow back, and thankfully, as a child, it would grow quickly.

But, that did not mean she could take her scarf off when it did. If a man ever cuts a woman's hair, whether she wanted him to or not, the woman must hide the crown of her head from the rest of the world until she is in the ground, dead. The same is for the man if a woman so cuts his hair.

And her mother…..whatever happened to her mother?

At the thought and realization, the Little One embraced the toy closer to her chest along with her headscarf, and began to weep as her head sunk into the pillow.

* * *

**….**

**Hi**

**Okay, I'm extremely sorry for the hiatus. I know that I did have all of quarantine to give you guys at least one chapter, but, much like a lot of other people. It wasn't really a good time for me to. I'm in my senior year as well, so there's a lot of stress around what I want to do with my life in the future, while also managing my life in the present. **

**How about season 2 though?! Oh my gosh, watching it with my family just recaptured my love of it, which is why I updated. I REALLY want to keep going because of all the ideas in my head I got to rediscover. I'll try my best to keep a (semi) normal time frame of updates and not leave you hanging, but I can't control life at times, so just know that.**

**Also, I created the religion that Odile and her mother are apart of, so there's that. I'm really excited to show you what else is in store for that, and how it functions and plays out. I apologize that the majority of this chapter was descriptions and not dialogue, but I think that's a lot of the original episode as well. Don't worry about Odile too; once they reach a particular village, we'll be seeing her smile more **

**I hope all of you guys stay safe and happy throughout these times. Anyway, happy (late) Halloween and (early) Thanksgiving!**


	4. Chapter 4 (Part 1): Ribbons

_The first thing the Little One felt when she woke up, were fingers running through her hair. Opening her eyes in a flash, she was expecting to see the different face of a man looming over her; but, was nearly in shock at the sight of her mother. Her mouth quivered, not knowing whether it was because of her speechlessness, or if tears were creeping into her eyes._

"_It's alright, my baby." Her mother cooed. "You're safe now."_

_Odile sat herself up. Her mother's fingers hadn't left her hair as she did so. The Little One asked. "What happened?"_

_Her mother shook her head, her face not changing. "Don't worry."_

_Immediately, the girl brought her hand up to the top of her head…her hair had been cut, and it was still in the boyish, pixie cut she was just beginning to get used to. Sighing, Odile leaned her head against her mother's shoulder._

"_Where are you?" She whispered to herself._

"_What did you say, my baby?" Her mother's gentle voice questioned._

_Odile swallowed a sob, and quietly said. "You're never really here. I-I miss you, and-and I love you, and-."_

"_-Little One," she interrupted Odile, pulling her daughter closer. "I am always with you. Whether you can see me or not, I have been and always shall be with you."_

_The girl bit her lip. "I just wanna go home."_

_Her mother nodded, softly pressing her lips to the top of her head. "I know, but not right now."_

"_Are you dead?" _

"_You know I can't tell you that." _

"_You can." She challenged weakly._

"_You don't know," her mother pulled away, holding her child's face. "so therefore, I don't."_

_Odile had no other choice but to nod. Biting the inside of her mouth, she took a deep breath and said. "I love you."_

_The mother grinned sadly at her, holding her tighter. "As long as you have a breath in your chest, you will forever be my little Firebird."_

_She nodded, resting her eyes and relishing in her mother's gentle touch._

* * *

The harsh shifting of the ship caused the Little One to nearly fall out of bed. Gasping for air, she quickly searched around for her headscarf. When she felt it in between her fingertips, Odile wrapped it around the back of her head, even double knotting it. Once she found it was secured enough, the Little One felt around the wall until she pushed a button, and the door soon opened. That was when she stumbled out of the tiny room and climbed her way up the ladder.

When she opened the hatch, she rushed up onto solid ground, and was a panting mess when she stood herself up. The Mandalorian, along with the Child sitting in his lap, turned around in the pilot seat to look at her.

"Hey," he began comfortingly. "it's okay. This one here just wouldn't stop touching things, so that's why you probably felt everything shake."

Odile nodded, her nerves only slightly easing, and her breathing returning to normal. Still, she couldn't help but still tremble at even the thought of the ship exploding. It seemed like the Mandalorian took notice, so he tilted his head downward to a control panel in front of him.

"Take a look at this."

Following orders, the Little One stood behind his chair, and looked over his shoulder to see a small map of planets surrounding them. He pointed to one.

"Sorgan. It has no starport, no industrial centers, no population density…A real backwater slug hole, which means it's perfect for us." He then turned to look up at her. "You ready to lay low and stretch your legs for a couple of months?"

"_I want to find my mother." _The Little One desperately wanted to cry out. Yet…all she did was nod; no particular emotion on her face.

He nodded back, adding in. "It'll be nice; nobody's gonna find us here."

Odile pursed her lips at him, but managed to force the tiniest of grins on her lips; hopefully he couldn't decipher that it was a façade. Thankfully, he only mumbled a 'Strap in, we're coming in for landing.' and turned back around to face the front. So, sighing in relief, she plopped herself down in the red chair, and buckled her seatbelt.

Her eyes grew at the sight of all the green trees below her as they entered the atmosphere. The water of the lakes were almost as crystal blue as the ones she would swim in back on Naboo take a bath in every morning. The Mandalorian nor the child saw this, but the girl's mouth soon upturned into a genuine smile as she looked at the beautiful green and blue colors of the planet.

When the Razor Crest landed safely on the ground, the Mandalorian switched off a few of the mechanisms, then turned to look at the Little One behind him.

"Listen, I'm gonna go out there and I'm gonna look around. It shouldn't take too long." He said all of this as he stopped the baby in his lap from playing with anything on the control panel. Him and Odile stood up at the same time, and he handed the Child to her. She instantly cradled him in her arms, and the two kids looked up at him.

"Now don't touch _anything_." He spoke in a certain voice that made Odile scrunch her nose at. "I'll find us some lodging, then I'll come back for you. You both _stay _right here, you stay. Understand?"

"_Don't you dare point your finger at me, old man." _She thought to herself. Yet…again, all she did was nod; this time, with a certain amount of annoyance in her eyes.

"Great." Was all he answered with, then turned to go down the ladder, leaving the two alone together. The moment he disappeared from sight, the girl felt a sudden fire spark in her soul, and while still holding onto the Child, she climbed down the ladder right after him.

It seemed as if the Mandalorian had no idea she and the baby were right behind him until the door was opened, and the ramp was placed on the ground. Even though she could not see his face, just by his sheer body language, she knew he was taken aback by her presence. Swallowing thickly, she looked at him fearlessly and said.

"I'm not a dog."

That was the loudest he had ever heard her talk. Even by her pitch deepening just a hint to make herself seem bigger threw him off.

Sighing, he shrugged and said. "Ah, what the hell, come on."

He walked ahead of her, and Odile stood still for a few more seconds with the Child close to her. In all honesty, she wasn't expecting him to hurt her in anyway at her defiance (he'd proven to not be violent towards her back when they first met), but he seemed to have made himself clear just a minute ago.

Still, Odile took this as a minor victory, and smiled as she followed behind him.

After about ten minutes of walking peacefully through the forest, the three of them reached a cozy looking restaurant of sorts. To hear the sound of laughter and happy chattering was definitely a positive change for the Little One, her eyes only growing brighter at the familiarity.

It was as they were walking through the area, that she immediately grew aware of a few eyes beginning to linger on her and the baby in her arms. She wasn't quick enough to hide him thought before a cat looking creature jumped at her, hissing. Odile jumped at the sound, but continued to keep her hold on the Child, and just walk a bit quicker to stand side by side with the man in armor.

They soon reached an empty table, and all sat down in separate seats, Odile with placing the Child in a single one. It was then they saw a waitress taking off her gloves approach them.

She greeted with a smile. "Welcome, travelers. Can I interest you in anything?"

"Bone Broth," he answered. "for these two."

"Oh, well, you're in luck. I just took down a grinjer, so there's plenty. Can I interest you in a porringer or a broth as well?"

He shook his head. "Just the two."

"Very well-."

"-That one over there." He stopped her before she could leave, ushering to a woman at another table. "When did she arrive?"

The waitress shrugged. "I've seen her here for the last week or so."

"What's her business here?" He asked.

"Business?" She chuckled. "Oh, well there's not much business in Sorgan, so I can't say."

Before she barely finished her sentence, the Mandalorian placed a few credits on the table. Her eyes grew wide.

"She doesn't strike me as a log runner. Well, thank you, sir. I will get that broth out to you as soon as possible, and I will throw in a flagon of spotchka just for good measure. I will be right back with that."

Just like that, the waitress left with a skip in her step. Soon, the Mandalorian looked back to the table the woman was previously at, only to find she was gone. Without explaining anything to either of the children, he stood up from the table, and began to march outside. Flipping a single credit into the waitress' hand he said.

"Keep an eye on the kids."

The woman watched him as he went, nodding. "Yes, sir."

Odile watched as he disappeared behind the curtains, and she felt a weight fall off her shoulders. Good, he was gone so she could finally think for a minute. Sighing, she hid her face in her hands, and relaxed into her seat.

Imagine…if she were to come home and tell all of the village that she was forced to travel with a Mandalorian of all people, that she did not know previously.

The Village…

Would they even want her just by taking one look at her and seeing that her long, fiery locks were gone and replaced with a poorly made headscarf? Everyone knew it would have been a pirate that had cut her hair, but, given her mother's history, every single one of the Elders would brand her as a liar.

"Here you are, piping hot so be careful."

Odile looked up at the sound of the waitress' chipper voice, and didn't even have time to smile at her in thanks before she was off again. The Child reached for his bowl with no hesitation, and began to drink it; only for him to whimper as his tongue burned.

The Little One chuckled, taking the bowl away from his mouth. "Silly you, she said it was hot."

He merely held it in his little hands, glancing up at her and cooing. Her smile dropped slightly, and then she placed her hand on top of his head, speaking gently.

"I don't know what's going to happen, but we're going to stay together, okay? We gotta be brave too; if we were brave when the Niktos got us, then we can be brave right now. Can you do that?"

The Child stared up at her, and then burped a little. Odile giggled, rubbing her nose into the top of his head, making him laugh. When she pulled away, she looked around; no sign of the Mandalorian. Shaking her head, she stood up from her chair, and took the baby into her arms.

"He didn't _tell _us to stay, so I think it's okay to look for him."

She carried the Child with her out through the yellow curtains, and was pleasantly greeted by seeing the same woman from the table kicking the Mandalorian over her so he was also on the ground. The two rolled, and were soon pointing a gun at each other's head, both panting as if they had fought hard with each other.

The sound of the Child slurping from his soup was what caused both the Mandalorian and the woman to slowly glance over and see a shocked Odile holding the baby. The woman gave the two kids a look of complete and utter confusion, before the man in armor asked.

"Want some soup?"

So, that's how the four of them ended back up at the table. The Child eating his broth, the Mandalorian and the woman, found out to be named Cara Dune, conversing with one another, and Odile playing with her food. She listened in on Cara the Mandalorian's talking.

"Saw most of my action mopping up after Endor;" She spoke. "mostly Ex-Imperial Warlords. They wanted it fast and quiet. They'd send us in on the drop ships, no support, just us. Then when the Imps were gone, the politics started. We were peacekeepers, protecting delegates, suppressing riots, not what I signed up for."

The Mandalorian asked. "How'd you end up here?"

She glanced over at the two kids sitting next to him, a hint of a smile on her lips before drinking from her soup bowl. "Let's just call it an early retirement. Look, I knew you were Guild, I figured you had a fob on me. That's why I came at you so hard."

He nodded. "Yeah, that's why I figured."

"Well this has been a real treat." She stood up. "But unless you wanna go another round, one of us is gonna have to move on, and I was here first."

With one final smirk, she drank the rest of her meal, placed the bowl onto the table, and left with a swagger. The three watched her leave, and when she was out of ear range, the man in armor turned to the kids.

"Well, looks like this planet's taken. How about you finish up-." He looked down at the girl's bowl of broth, only to see that it hadn't been touched at all. Trying to sigh as quietly as possible, he then turned to look directly at the girl. "Why haven't you eaten?"

Puckering her lips up, she shrugged. "I don't like it."

"Have you even-."

"-Yes, I've tried it. It tastes gross."

"It's good for you, I've heard." He tried to persuade her.

She clicked her tongue. "I know it is, but I still don't like it."

"When was the last time you've eaten anything?" He challenged.

Odile shrugged her shoulders again. "You tell me."

If he wasn't wearing a helmet at the time, everyone would see a vein on the verge of popping out of his head. Not even bothering to hide his frustration, he groaned lightly, resting his head on his arms at the table.

And the two sat like that in silence for only half a minute before the Mandalorian took a deep breath, and turned back to the small girl beside him. He said.

"Look, I know we don't know a thing about each other, and I'm sorry we have to be forced into something like this, but it's out of our control. Okay? We're going to have to work together if we want to get anywhere. Got that?"

Looking right at him, her eyes did not portray wrath or dread; just a range of pride, to finally, understanding. So, taking the spoon into her hand, she dipped it into the Bone Broth, then brought it to her lips.

It _definitely _tasted different on Sorgan than it did on Naboo. But for sure for the better.

As the Little One began to eat more and more of her soup, the Mandalorian sighed in relief, saying "Thank you."

* * *

Odile squinted her eyes in concentration at the lightning bugs just a few feet away from her. The three had soon traveled back to the Razor Crest once the Little One was finished with her meal, and the sun had been going down as they were leaving the restaurant. While the Mandalorian was tinkering with the landing gear as night fell, the Little One and the Child were left to their own devices.

In the girl's case, that meant catching lightning bugs that began to appear as the sky got darker.

Slowly, she walked to the patch of fireflies while standing on the balls of her feet; trying to make as less noise as possible. As if that would help her sneak up on several, small insects that could already see her. In a flash, Odile leapt forward, cupping her hands around a single firefly as the rest dispersed and scattered away from her.

The Child, in his basinet, giggled and clapped as he saw the girl succeed, causing her to laugh. She then looked over to the Mandalorian, still working. With a tiny smile on her face, she approached him.

"Look."

The man in armor turned at her small voice. Her grin grew, and she partially opened her hands. Playing along, the Mandalorian took one step forward, glancing into her hands, and saw the firefly flashing its light faintly.

"Interesting." Was all he said before going back to working on the ship. Odile stared at him for a few more seconds, thinking. Then, another smile grew upon her lips.

"My sisters and I would stay up late and catch them in the summer. We caught about a hundred I think one year."

He didn't say anything once again. This caused the smile to finally fall from the girl's mouth. Deciding to give up, she turned and began to walk back to where the Child was.

"How many sisters do you have?"

The Little One was, understandably, taken off guard by his question. Didn't he _just _ignore and brush her off? Still, she grinned wryly, turning around and answering.

"Thirty-six."

Without even setting down his tools, the Mandalorian looked over his shoulder. Even with the helmet on, the Little One knew he wore a look of absolute shock.

"Thirty-six?"

She nodded happily, then scrunched her nose up. "Well, actually, now I remember Nadia turned nineteen but-." She gasped, her smile returning. "Baby Anya was born a month ago!"

The Mandalorian remained still even as she cheered. Once she was finished, he asked. "Are…are they your actual sisters?"

"We don't have the same mother," she shook her head, and pointed to herself. "I'm a Trichonom. Once a girl is nineteen and becomes a woman, she's no longer a sister, but an auntie. I have sixty of those."

Once again, all he could think to do was nod, before turning back to the landing gear he was working on. Odile tilted her head to the side, not giving up.

"Do you have brothers or sisters?"

"Something like that."

"How many?"

Before the Mandalorian could either respond or turn away from her, the two saw a speeder pull up near them. Two men were in it, and they both exited the speeder, hesitantly walking towards them. One man began.

"Excuse me, sir?"

The man in armor just kept going as if they weren't there but asked, annoyed. "There something I can help you with?"

"Uh yeah, Raiders." The other man chimed in.

"We have money." The first man who spoke held out a small bag to him.

Without turning to them, the Mandalorian asked. "So, you think I'm some kind of mercenary?"

One of them nodded. "Well, you _are _a Mandalorian, right?"

"Or at least wearing Mandalorian armor." The other pointed out. "That is Mandalorian armor, right?"

"It is." He answered curtly, walking past them. One of the men turned to his friend, then began to follow the Mandalorian.

"See? I told him. Sir, I've read a lot about your people-I mean, tribe. If half of what I read is true-."

"-We have money!" His friend pointed out.

"How much?" The man in armor asked.

The first man swallowed. "Everything we have, sir; our whole harvest was stolen."

"Krill, we're krill farmers." The other one clarified.

"We brew spotchka." he held out the small bag. "Our whole village chipped in."

The Mandalorian's gaze fell on the Child and the Little One, who had both kept their distance, but their ears perked up at the conversation going on between the three men. He shook his head, beginning to walk away. "It's not enough."

Taken aback, the two began to follow him once again. "You sure? You don't even know what the job is!"

"I know it's not enough. Good luck." Was his only response.

One of them wore of look of complete disappointment before trying again. "This is everything we have. We'll give you more after the next harvest."

They were soon silenced by the hatch to the Razor Crest opening, startling them to move backwards. The Mandalorian looked towards the two children, and they immediately knew before following him onboard the ship. They heard the men sigh behind them.

"Come on, let's head back." One spoke up, and the two turned around.

"Took us the whole day to get here," he shook his head. "now we have to ride back with no protection to the middle of nowhere."

The Mandalorian stopped in his tracks, almost causing the kids to run into him, and turned. "Where do you live?"

It was time for the other two men to turn around. One of them responded. "On a farm, weren't you listening? We're farmers."

"In the middle of nowhere?"

"Yes?" He answered, slightly confused.

"You have lodging?"

As if a switch had been flipped, the two realized they were getting through to him. "Yeah, absolutely."

"Good," his voice sounded chipper, and he turned around. "come up and help."

They looked at each other excitedly, and immediately followed him to help with whatever needed to be moved. Odile looked down at the Child with a slight look of confusion. He only shrugged, cooing a little.

"I'm gonna need one more thing," the Mandalorian asked as he set a crate down in the speeder. "give me those credits."

Their names were Stoke and Caben. Two, fairly pleasant men from the village that Odile knew was a at least a day's journey to reach. Even as they helped the Mandalorian move cargo into their speeder, they were always kind to her, even mentioning how similar she was to their little sisters or nieces. Of course, that was when she began to slowly come out of her shell.

"You should try to get some sleep." The Mandalorian said to her as the speeder began to drive away from the Razor Crest.

Odile glanced up at him through hooded eyes. "I'm not tired."

He only stared at her, hoping his stoic stature would intimidate her. To be honest, it did just only a little bit. Still, the Little One only stared back up at him, almost like it was a minor challenge.

"We're not sure how long we can stay on this planet, and it'd be better to get a few hours in now than when we're on the run." He rationalized.

For a few more moments, she gazed up at him. When she felt her eyes becoming heavy, that was when she frustratingly grabbed a sheet that they had taken with them and threw it over her entire body. She heard him sigh, but then say nothing else after that.

Hiding away from his eyes made it easier for her to try and stay awake. Again, just sleeping could cause her to dream or have a complete nightmare. Yes, if it just so happened to be a nightmare, there was a possibility she wouldn't wake up gasping for air and crying; she had done it before. Yet, the Little One couldn't help but pinch herself every few minutes to keep herself from drifting off.

In the end, though, sleep won.

* * *

It was the stopping of the speeder, and distant cheers of children that woke the Little One up.

Throwing the covers off of herself, she was blinded by the sunlight for just a moment before sitting up to see what was going on. Odile quickly took notice of Cara in the speeder with them, and she stared at her for only a second with her mouth gaping open.

"They're here!" A kid's happy voice caught the Little One's attention, and before she knew it, all the children in the village rushed over to the speeder she was in, all staring at her and the Child with gawkish smiles.

"Well," she heard the Mandalorian say from behind her. "looks like they're happy to see us."

"Looks like." Cara responded. Odile counted at least ten children that gathered around the speeder, all of them making funny faces at the Child.

"He's so cute!" Was the most famous phrase that was said when looking at the baby, and he always cooed in response. A small wave of overprotectiveness came over her, and she gently took him into her arms.

This brought the children's faces up to her finally, and she was also met with polite smiles. A tanned girl with black hair was the first one to speak to her.

"Hi, I'm Winta."

The Little One smiled shyly in response, still holding the Child close to her chest. "I'm Odile."

"What's your pet's name?" she asked curiously.

Odile pursed her lips. Even though she'd been with him for at least a week or two…she never properly gave him a name. So, the only way she could think of responding was with. "He's not my pet."

Before Winta or any of the other children could ask a question, more villagers came by and began to help them unload the speeder. Both the Mandalorian and Odile were led to a house some ways away and were then ushered to a small barn next to it.

As they were carrying pieces of cargo, the two saw a woman with long black hair opening the blinds to let the sunlight in. This was Omera.

"Please, come in." She welcomed with a smile. So, the two of them did, both setting down the belongings, and Odile also putting the Child down on the ground.

Omera spoke again. "I hope this is comfortable for the both of you. Sorry that all we have is the barn."

"This will do fine." The Mandalorian reassured.

Omera ushered do some blankets. "I stacked some blankets over there."

"Thank you," he nodded, turning around. "that's very kind."

In the corner of her eye, Odile saw the same girl who greeted her earlier come into view. With a tiny smile on her face, she opened her mouth to say 'hello'. That was when the Mandalorian behind her whipped around quickly when he heard a noise; almost drawing his blaster.

Both small girls let out a sharp gasp, causing him to immediately relax, and ease his posture. Omera walked back over to the entrance, and hugged her daughter before saying.

"This is my daughter, Winta; we don't get a lot of visitors around here. She's not used to strangers, but I think she's happy to see another little girl here to maybe play with." She smiled right at the Little One, and she blushed. Omera looked back down at her daughter. "This nice man is going to help protect us from the bad ones."

Winta avoided eye contact with him, hugging her mother tightly before quietly saying. "Thank you."

He nodded in response. Omera read the room, and then turned with her daughter still in her grasp. "Come on, Winta; let's give our guests some room."

Her daughter nodded, then turned to the Little One, saying as she left. "Bye, Odile."

All she did was wave, a smile growing onto her lips for the second time that day. Once the two left, it was then that the Mandalorian decided to speak.

"You know her already?"

Odile turned at his voice, saying. "Uh huh, when we got here."

Again, he nodded in response, then asking. "You want to help me unload everything, or will I have to do it myself?"

For the first time, he believed anyway, he saw a look of mischief in her eyes. It had been perhaps another twenty minutes of the two taking out things from boxes to set in the barn. Odile placed the Child in the crib the villagers gifted, and he seemed to be enjoying himself. The Mandalorian and the Little One didn't really talk that much as they unpacked, but there was an unspeakable understanding content in the silence. Which would soon be pleasantly interrupted.

"Knock, knock." They heard Omera's familiar voice.

"Come in." The man in armor spoke with ease.

Omera walked in with a tray with food, and little Winta tailing behind her. The girl looked up at the tall man as if she wanted to desperately ask something. She glanced up at her mother, and the woman nodded. Winta looked back at the Mandalorian.

"Can I feed him?"

The Mandalorian looked down at the Child, and was about to answer before the Little One did it for him.

"Sure."

Winta smiled slightly, then approached the cradle, kneeling down with a piece of food in her hand. "Are you hungry?"

The Child soon ate it up, and both little girls giggled at the sight; Winta the only one making faces at him. She then turned to Odile.

"Do you wanna play?"

Slightly unsure this time, the Little One turned her head and glanced up at the Mandalorian. This time, she tried her hardest to make sure her eyes showed nothing but pleading. Back on Naboo, her and her sisters always called them "The Puppy Dog" eyes.

He knew full well what she was doing…and it worked. Nodding in his response, Odile's face lit up, and she took the Child out of the crib, and into her arms. She then felt Winta's hand grab onto hers, and was soon pulling her out of the barn.

"Come on!" She cheered.

Odile giggled, holding the baby in one arm. "Okay, okay!"

Soon, she and the Child were led just outside of the barn, where a few other children were playing some kind of game where they were running around in circles. When they saw the three approaching, they quickly stopped. A girl with her blonde hair in a bun ran up to them.

"Hi!" She greeted loudly, instantly hugging Odile.

The Little One froze for a second, but soon returned the girl's embrace. When they pulled away, Odile set the Child down on the ground, and heard the little girl say.

"I'm Kateri, and I'm gonna be eight next month."

She smiled, and looked over at the rest of the kids. "I'm Odile and I'm…eleven."

A boy chuckled. "You're the biggest here!"

"Huh?" She made a face.

Winta chuckled. "Oldest he means; he's not really that smart." She then pointed to him. "Cass is ten," then to another boy. "Riz is nine," she then pointed to herself. "and _I'm _nine. How old is he?"

Odile looked down to see that she was talking about the Child. Smirking, Odile answered proudly. "Fifty."

"What?!" All four of the children yelled in shock.

The Little One just laughed. "Species age differently!"

Soon, the others couldn't help but giggle along with the oddity of it. Soon, that was when Kateri tugged on Odile's hand.

"We can go to my house!"

She looked over at Winta. Even when with new friends, it was like she always had to find permission. Thankfully, Winta's face lit up as well. After picking up the Child from the ground, they began to sprint in the direction of Kateri's house.

* * *

"Yellow ribbons mean friendship." Odile said as she began to tie a yellow ribbon into Kateri's hair as they sat in front of the house.

Hours had passed, but as soon as word got out that Odile was with a few kids, almost every other child in the village came to visit her; mainly girls. When Kateri had brough out her ribbon collection, every girl wanted one tied in her hair as Odile was telling them what the colors meant in her tribe.

Once she was done with Kateri, a girl just a year younger than her sat doen in front of her. The Little One grabbed a pale blue ribbon out of the basket, and began tying it into the girl's braid.

"Light blue means healing and peace, while dark blue mostly means power and confidence."

When the girl stood up with a smile on her face, Winta stuck her hand into the basket, pulled out a white ribbon, and held it in front of Odile. She looked at it and smiled.

"You want that one?"

"Yeah!" she giggled. The Little One took it out of her hand, and Winta soon sat down in front of her. As Odile began to tie it into a neat bow, she asked.

"Do you know what white means for the Trichonom?"

Winta shrugged. "No?"

When the white ribbon was perfectly tied into her hair, Odile leaned forward, whispering into her ear. "It means you're getting married."

"Ew!" Winta quickly responded, standing up and laughing. "That's gross!"

The Little One laughed as she stood up as well. The children around her gave one another confused looks. That was when Cass asked.

"What's so funny?"

Odile pointed at Winta. "She's wearing white, so that means she's getting married!"

The rest of the children laughed, all but Winta. Still though, she took it in stride, and only replied with.

"How about _you _wear a white ribbon?"

A few of the kids 'ooo'd at her and looked to Odile. She'd stopped laughing and frowned. Shaking her head, she said. "I can't."

"Why not?" Cass stepped forward. "You just have to take that scarf off your hair and-."

"-Don't!" She backed away, shrieking when he reached his hand out to it.

Giving her an odd look, he asked. "What's wrong?"

Gaining back some courage, the Little One stepped closer to him. "I can't take it off, and I can _never _wear ribbons again; never _ever_."

Scrunching his eyes at her, he scoffed, turned around, and mumbled. "Bug-lover."

Odile's eyes grew at the childish insult. "What did you say?"

Cass turned back around, basically spitting the words. "Bug. Lover."

The tension between the two erupted once the Little One cried out and charged right at him. Cass, in turn, bolted in the opposite direction. The other children began to chase after them, with one half begging them to stop, and the other cheering either Odile or Cass on.

"Get back here you rockhead!" She screamed at him, trying to speed up.

They ran throughout the village, all the while dodging older kids or adults carrying krill around in baskets. As Odile reached her hands out to grasp onto the hood of Cass' clothing, she felt herself stumble and trip.

…Into one of the ponds.

The Little One only had a second to take in air before being completely submerged in the water. When she fell in, she oddly felt at peace. She had wanted to swim for a while ever since Naboo...

_She…she'd gone down to the ponds with Lavinia and her mother early in the morning to beat anyone ese to bathe in them. It was so dark, but they had candles, so everything should've been alright, right? Then, there were men laughing, and they were getting closer, and her mother told her and Lavinia to run but then they'd be leaving her behind! Even when they ran, Odile forced her friend to carry on without her, and ran back to her mother. Then the men were pulling on her hair, and laughing at her, and pulling her mother's hair, and-!_

The Little One began coughing as she reached the surface, and immediately felt her head to make sure her scarf was still there. Thank the Maker, it was.

"Odile! Odile!" She heard her name being cried, but could only make out Winta and a few adults helping her out of the pond.

Standing up, Winta soon hugged her side, holding her closer to her. Odile looked around vigorously for the Child. When she found him, he ran into her arms the second she reached down for him.

"I'm sorry," she looked over and saw Cass' dejected face. "I'm so sorry."

"Leave her alone." Winta snapped, then began leading Odile. "Come on, let's go home."

And so, they did. The Little One held the baby close to her as they began walking back to Winta's house. Of course, leave it to Omera to rush out of the house when they were coming closer.

"My goodness, what happened?!" She kneeled down in front of the children.

Odile swallowed. "I-I-I…"

"She fell in the pond, mama." Winta finished for her. "Kateri dropped her doll in it, and Odile went down to get it."

The mother smiled slightly down at the two. "Well, that was _very _brave of you, but now you're soaked to the bone."

Odile nodded, holding the cooing Child to her chest as she felt herself beginning to shake. Omera soon placed her hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"Don't worry, I think I have a few dresses you may like."

With that, Omera and Winta led the two into their house, and into Winta's room. Omera opened the small closet up, containing several blue, work dresses. Gazing at them in awe, it took almost an hour for her to choose.

Finally, when she settled on one slightly paler blue, and was also given laced up boots. Now, _that _took her a solid twenty minutes to learn how to tie; only being used to shoes she'd instantly slip on.

Apparently, the Mandalorian and Cara had slipped out into the forest to better investigate the area of the raiders. Odile couldn't complain about that. So, here the three girls, and the Child, were now, at the table eating dinner in Omera's house.

"So, your hair's gone?" Winta asked her new friend.

Odile nodded. "Uh huh. I can't take the scarf off."

"Just like the Mandalorian." She pointed out.

"I guess." She shrugged.

Omera picked up the plates from the table. "Your headscarf isn't really in good shape, would you want me to make you one?"

The Little One smiled. "I'd like that."

"Why can't you take it off?" Winta asked.

The mother squeezed her daughter's shoulder. "Winta-."

"-Once a man cuts off a girl's hair, or a girl does it to a man, then everyone needs to know that they either _let _them cut it off, or _wanted _it cut." She replied nonchalantly.

Still, Winta wouldn't quit. "Why is it bad? It's just hair."

Odile looked up at her with her eyes all wide. If looks could kill, Winta wouldn't be sitting at the dinner table. When Odile saw her friend's reaction though, her eyes gentled and she apologized.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."

Omera shook her head. "It's alright, Winta shouldn't have asked."

"I'm sorry, Odile." Winta apologized. "Umm, would you want to sleep in my room?"

The smile returned to the Little One's lips. "I'd love to."

"Now hold on," Omera said softly. "I think you should ask your father first."

"He's not really…" Odile trailed off to herself. Before she could finish her statement, she heard movement behind her, and quickly turned to see the Mandalorian rushing into the house.

"Hey," Omera approached him. "is everything okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, just…just didn't know where these two were." His finger went from the Child to the Little One.

Odile stood up from her chair, and walked to be right in front of him. With a wide smile on her face, she reached down to the bottom of her dress, and held it up slightly, revealing her new laced up boots.

"I've never had them before." She said innocently.

Usually, she did an okay job at guessing what he was feeling under his helmet, but that time, she couldn't tell if her as indifferent, or smiling. All he did, was stare at her, then back to Omera as he picked the Child up from a highchair.

"Thanks for taking care of them. I think we'll be turning in for the night."

"Oh," Odile piped her little voice up. "can I stay in Winta's room?"

_That _got his attention. He looked right at her, but this time, she surprisingly didn't try the "Puppy Dog" eyes. After a few odd seconds of silence, he replied.

"Okay."

With that, he thanked Omera once again, and was out of the house with the Child in his arms. And with that, Winta was pulling on her friend's hand again.

* * *

**Hey there, Happy Thanksgiving!**

**So, I'm going to be honest, I wanted to write out ALL the episodes for the story, leaving no spare chapter for every episode, but I realized that wouldn't be possible for THIS episode and possibly some future ones. I just have so much stuff to pack in, and I'm not sure how many people would want to read a 10,000 word chapter because that was where this one was honestly going. It'd also just be nice to get a chapter out for Thanksgiving. **

**So, how are you guys liking Odile? I sure hope I'm doing well at characterizing her relationships with Mando and the Child. I also hope I'm doing alright at fleshing out her backstory and the religion she is a part of.**

**Remember, she's a small girl that's gone through traumatic events, so there WILL be times she will be sad and furious for sometimes no reason at all (Exhibit A being her chasing Cass}. If you have ANY constructive criticism whatsoever, don't hesitate it telling me!**

**Also, I finally watched **_**Rogue One**_**, and holy shite, it was amazing!**


	5. Chapter 4 (Part 2): Power

"Bad news, you can't live here anymore."

Odile lifted her eyebrows up in surprise, not just at the statement, but also at the Mandalorian's bluntness. The entirety of the village looked at each other in shock, a chorus of 'What?' and 'Why?'s were mixed throughout the crowd.

"Nice bedside manner." Cara whispered sarcastically.

"You think you can do better?" The Mandalorian asked her.

"Can't do much worse." She shrugged before walking forward. "I know this is not the news you wanted to hear, but there are no other options."

"You took the job." Stoke pointed out.

"That was before we knew about the AT-ST." Cara refuted.

"What's that?" Kateri whispered to Odile.

As if Cara had heard her question, she responded to the whole village. "The armored walker with two enormous guns that you knew about and didn't tell us."

Again, the people of the village turned to one another, confused and angered at why the bounty hunter and retired fighter wouldn't help them. It was Omera who then spoke up, looking right at the Mandalorian.

"We have nowhere to go."

"Sure you do," Cara tried to sound positive. "this is a big planet. I mean, I've seen a lot smaller."

"My grandparents seeded these ponds!" A villager rebutted.

Stoke joined in. "It took generations."

Cara nodded. "I understand, I do. But there are only two of us."

"No there's not, there's at least twenty here."

"I mean _fighters_, be realistic."

"We can learn!" He exclaimed, causing other villagers to nod their heads and speak about their agreements.

Cara shook her head. "I've seen that thing take out entire companies of soldiers in a matter of minutes."

While a few more villagers talked amongst themselves, Omera said again as she held Winta. "We're not leaving."

"You can _not _fight that thing." Cara stated as if to finalize it.

The Mandalorian looked out at the sea of people as they showed, once again, their obvious disagreement. It was then, that an idea, perhaps a possible or an impossible one, came to mind, and soon, through his lips.

"Unless we show them how."

Just like that, after the villagers agreed with pleasure, both Cara and the Mandalorian began to split them up into groups, all for different training purposes. Some were to dig a deep hole in the largest krill pond as a trap for the AT-ST, others were to cut down trees and build a barricade along the edges of the village, and finally, they were to be trained how to fight. Cara took one group in training with melee weapons (which were simply sharpened sticks), and the Mandalorian took the other in firearms.

When he asked if anyone knew how to shoot a blaster, Omera was the only one to raise her hand. She had also been the only one to hit the mark perfectly when the Mandalorian had hung up pots and pans as targets.

"That's my mother." Winta said proudly as she, Odile, and the rest of the children watched their parents train.

Cass scoffed. "Big deal, _I _could shoot like that."

"Shut it, Cass." A few kids spoke in synch.

Odile soon stood up, then began collecting a few spare rocks off the ground. Little Kateri gave her a look before asking.

"What are you doing?"

The Little One looked up with a look of mischief. "Do you have any long pieces of cloth I could use?"

* * *

"Okay, so you're just going to make a figure eight, like this," Odile, with the rock inside of the bandana a kid from the village had given her, demonstrated. "And now, look at your target," she pointed at the picture of a crudely drawn monster hanging on a tree. "Then release!"

Just as she yelled the word, the rock flew out of the bandana, and hit the picture perfectly! A few of the children 'ooo'd at the action, and some even clapped. With a smile on her face, Odile bent down to grab another rock, and turned to the kids.

"Who wants to try?"

Instantly, their hands went up, and a few even chanted 'Me!' several times to try and get her attention. Giggling to herself, Odile made sure that everyone had a chance to try, and giving advice on how to hit the target.

In the end, at least three of the kids could hit the piece of paper after an hour of "Training". Two of those kids being Winta and Cass.

"Where'd you learn how to do this?" Kateri asked after her seventh attempt.

Odile shrugged. "My sisters and I did it all the time."

"Not your brothers?" She gave a confused look.

"I didn't have brothers." The Little One stated. "Only a mother, grandmamas, aunties, and sisters."

"Were there no boys in your village?"

She chuckled. "Oh, there were, but they weren't anything to us."

"Huh?"

"To boys, they had a father, brothers, uncles, and grandpapas. To them, we were just girls and women, and they were boys and men to us." She tried her best to explain.

Kateri tilted her head to the side. "But, what about your papa-?"

"-Riz, that's not a figure eight!" Odile yelled, and began marching towards the young boy.

He jumped at her tone and at the sight of her coming towards him. Thankfully, the young girl realized her mistake once she saw him, and soon crouched down, gently taking his arm.

"Just follow my lead, like this." She softly guided him through the motions of what a figure eight should be. "Okay? I was just worried because you'd hurt yourself if-."

"-Hey guys, look." Cass interrupted her.

All of the kids glanced up at his voice, and they looked to where he was pointing to. It was down the small hill they were on top of, at the makeshift shooting range the Mandalorian and Cara set up. Everyone was gone, yet the pots and pans were still hung up, and there was a single blaster miraculously left behind.

"Bet you anything I could hit it." Cass smirked.

Winta stepped forward. "Don't."

"Why not?"

"That's a dumb thing to do, and you know it." Kateri crossed her arms. "You'll shoot your eye out."

"Will not!"

"Will too!"

Odile walked ahead of the two, her hands pulling on the seams of her new dress. All of the children watched her, and soon followed.

"Where are you going?" Riz asked.

"That's the Mandalorian's blaster, and I'm going to get it." She stated, picking up her pace a bit as she went down the hill.

"Why should you?!" Cass asked loudly.

She ignored him when she finally reached solid ground, and approached the shooting range and mostly cleared table. As she got closer though, and her eyes focused on the single blaster on the table, she began to think even more. She glanced at one of the pans, then back down at the blaster, then the pan again, and back down at the blaster.

"_Just one try_." She thought to herself.

Slowly, the Little One picked up the blaster in her hand, keeping her finger off the trigger, and moving it around to inspect it. It was a bit heavier than she was anticipating, but nothing she couldn't handle. Placing both of her hands,onto it, she soon raised it up to shoulder length, and arched her head forward, closing one eye to aim.

It was footsteps that drew the Little One out of focus, and to slowly lower the blaster. Looking over to her left, she saw the Mandalorian approaching her. Trying her best not to change her facial expression, she simply placed the blaster back on the table.

"I'm sorry."

She turned around to leave, but saw that he was standing in front of her just a few feet away. He then carefully walked to stand next to her, picking up the gun.

"I think you were too focused just now."

She gave him a look. "What?"

"They were trying to warn you I was coming over."

Odile was perplexed at first, but then looked to the hill with all the children, and saw them slowly backing away when she and the Mandalorian glanced up at them. She merely shrugged. It was apparent she was on the brink of shutting down the moment he approached her, and his shoulders dropped. Glancing back at the targets, he left her side.

"Well come on."

Her eyes followed him as he walked back to stand a distance away from the pots and pans. She furrowed her eyes in confusion, but soon stood next to him. He held the blaster out to her, and said.

"Don't be afraid of it, it's just a thing; and make sure you know where your finger is the whole time it's in your hand. Don't put it on the trigger unless you know for sure you're going to shoot."

"I've shot one of these before." She looked right up at him.

He froze slightly, but asked. "When?"

Odile rose up on the balls of her feet in slight nervousness. "Before you found me and the baby, one of the Niktos got me and…" Her eyes dropped at the memory, basically feeling its hands gripping her arm until it made a mark. "It was close to me anyway."

She then carefully took the blaster back into her hands, and raised it up in front of her, keeping both hands on the blaster. He nodded.

"Good. Better to use both of hands when learning." He stated. "Okay, now make sure your feet are secured, and elbows locked."

"Got it." She responded quietly.

"Just aim through that little nozzle on top, and squeeze the trigger smoothly."

Taking a deep breath, Odile squeezed the trigger just like he said, and felt the gun kickback just as she released.

Miss.

"That's alright, go again." He encouraged, and she did.

Miss.

"Aim a bit higher."

Miss.

"Lower."

Miss.

"A little to your left, no your other-."

Miss.

"Down."

Miss.

"Up."

Miss.

"Just a-, hey."

Odile's breath began to quicken just slightly, and she felt her entire body beginning to tremble. The Mandalorian began to say.

"Okay, okay, just put the gun down nice and easy."

She followed his order, and squatted down to put the blaster on the grass. She backed away from it, then soon sunk on to the ground herself, still shaking. He took a seat next to her, but kept some distance.

"You're alright." He tried to say comfortingly. "You're okay."

The Little One brought her legs up into a fetal position, but didn't hug herself tightly. "It-it won't stop."

"What won't?"

"Shaking." She took a deep breath.

He nodded, completely understanding. "I know, you just have to wait it out."

Taking another breath, she rested her chin on top of her knees, closing her eyes and getting her breathing back to normal. It was then she heard him speak again.

"I couldn't stop shaking either after I shot a gun for the first time."

She opened her eyes slightly, glancing at him. "How old were you?"

"Just a bit younger than you are, but you get used to it." He answered, and the two sat like that for a few minutes. The only thing that was a source of sound for them was the slight breeze of wind through the leaves and through the trees.

Soon enough though, the Little One reached for the blaster a few feet in front of her, then stood herself up. The Mandalorian quickly followed.

"You don't have to if-."

"-I want to."

The look in her eyes said it all when he was hesitant. Nodding, she stood up straighter, getting back into the position she was just it.

"Okay, I think just a little up…good." He coached her.

Rendering her eyes, she squeezed the trigger.

Miss…again.

"It's alright."

"I know." She nodded, not taking her eyes off the pot in front of her. As she breathed evenly, what he said next surprised her.

"Just keep it steady."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

Trusting him, the Little One closed her right eye, and fired.

Right on the money.

Her face lit up, and she lowered the blaster to turn around and face him. "I got it!"

She liked to think that he was smiling at her under his helmet. "You did. You wanna try it again and make sure it wasn't a fluke?"

The girl tilted her head to the side. "What's that?"

"Luck." He explained. "Just to make sure it wasn't a lucky shot."

"Okay."

Odile repositioned herself, closing her right eye, and repeating exactly what she had done just then.

Still, a miss.

As she groaned lightly in frustration, the Mandalorian behind her spoke up gently. "That's alright, it hasn't even been ten minutes and you already hit it."

"Once." She mumbled.

"Just try again." He urged.

Sighing, Odile forced herself to refocus as she took deep breaths, aiming her blaster at the pan, whilst looking through the nozzle on top of it. She fired.

Finally, she hit it once again.

"Good." The Mandalorian praised as the Little One grinned to herself, proudly. He then looked up at the sun, seeing it begin to set, and night would soon set in. Glancing down at the Little One, he said. "I think we should be heading back now."

She followed her eyes up to the sun, and nodded, handing the blaster back to him. He shook his head. "Keep it."

Odile gave him an odd look. "What?"

The Mandalorian got down on one knee, being somewhat at her height. "You know you and the rest of the children will be hiding in one of the huts at the very back of the village, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, Omera told us."

"Okay. Now, all of us up front are going to try our best and make sure nothing gets passed us, but…"

"But?"

He sighed lightly, then took the gun from here. "Here, I'm going to put the safety on. You see the red dot right here?" He pointed on the side, and she nodded. "That means you can fire at any time. Now, if I take the switch just above it, and cover it." He did so, then raised the gun, aiming it at the pot, and pulled back the trigger. "See? Nothing. So, if you ever _need _to shoot, just pull the switch to uncover it, okay?"

Odile swallowed thickly, taking the blaster into her hands when he handed it back. "I'm not good at it though."

The Mandalorian titled his head, lowering his voice. "It's just a precaution, okay? I know you can do it."

A hint of a smile pulled onto Odile's lips, and she nodded. "Okay."

"Okay." He said back. Standing up, he pat her shoulder gently. "Let's go."

* * *

"We've already played the quiet game!" Riz whispered, complaining. All of the children had been packed tightly into one of the huts, and it had been perhaps half an hour since they were put there.

Odile put a finger to the boy's lips, saying quietly. "Well we're going to keep playing it until someone comes back."

"Who?" A boy, who Odile didn't know, asked.

"I don't know!" She whisper-yelled. She then felt something tug on the sleeve of her dress. Looking down she saw little Kateri gazing up at her with big blue eyes.

"Are we going to win?"

The Little One smiled, crouching down and hugging her tightly, saying softly into her ear. "Yes, yes we will."

"How do you know?" She asked, hiding her face in the crook of her neck.

Odile pulled away, poking Kateri's cheek and causing her to giggle softly. "Because everyone out there fighting are smart, strong, and I know that-."

The ground shaking only slightly drew everyone out of their thoughts. Kateri instantly hugged Odile, whimpering. A few of the kids also began to look around in fear, releasing small mewling sounds from their mouths.

Still keeping one arm around Kateri, Odile waved her arm around slightly, shushing them gently. "It's okay, we're going to be fine."

A girl who looked no older than six shook her head. "No we won't!"

The Little One used her other hand to wipe a lose tear away from her cheek. "Yes, we will. _Nothing _is going to hurt us while I'm around."

"Odile."

She turned at Winta pleading her name, and saw the girl holding the Child close to her. Odile looked from Winta's fearful face, to the baby's who matched it perfectly. She held out her free arm to them, and Winta immediately walked into it, pressing her face into her shoulder.

Once again, Odile shushed her and Kateri. The Little One pulled away just a little to look down at the Child. He cooed questioningly, his eyes looking around as if something were to attack him. Odile smiled slightly, then pressed her lips on the top of his head.

An explosion shook the earth beneath the children, and several of them cried out at the earsplitting noise. Looking around wildly, Odile let go of her hold on Kateri and Winta, and took the Child into her own arms, bouncing him gently as she shushed his crying.

"Everyone, everyone!" She yelled over all the children's panicked words. Soon, they looked at her, some still with tears running down their eyes. She continued. "We need to stay calm. If we don't, we-."

"-We'll what?" Cass interrupted her, fuming. "We'll die?!"

More of the children squealed at the suggestion, and Odile looked at the boy in the eye. "No one is going to die!"

"That's what you were going to say though, wasn't it?"

"No."

"Then what?"

Her nostrils flared, and she set the Child on the ground. "Then we won't know what to do."

"What _could _we do?" An older girl questioned.

Odile swallowed. All of these children were looking up to her as if _she _was their leader. Calming herself down, she thought quickly of a response.

Not quick enough to say before the gunfire was heard, causing the children to cry again, though not as loud this time. Still, Odile shushed them, speaking over.

"If worse comes to worse, we make a break for the tree line. It's not that far from here, right?" She asked.

They nodded, but Riz asked her. "What if they come back here?"

"I don't-."

"-But what if?"

The little girl sighed, then looked over at the blaster she had set on top of a basket. She tilted her head. "You see that over there? If _anything _comes back here, I'm going to take it, and shoot them."

"Really?" Kateri asked.

"Really." She nodded to her, then looked at Winta and Cass. "If that happens, could you two cover me?"

They gave her a look, and Cass asked. "With what, a blanket?"

Odile shook her head. "No, it's battle talk. It means that you'd defend me."

"With what?" Winta questioned.

"You still know how to use a shepherd's slingshot, right?"

Cass and Winta glanced at one another, and nodded. Odile smiled slightly.

"You two use them and try to keep the monsters off me if they come, okay?"

"Will they?" Winta asked her new friend.

The Little One swallowed, remembering what the Mandalorian told her. "I don't think so."

"We're going to die here, aren't we?" Riz looked up at her.

Odile hid her face in her hands at the question, saying softly. "I just told you we aren't. Let's just…" She poked her head out from her hands, and saw all eyes on her. Biting the inside of her mouth, she sighed heavily and crossed her arms. "Let's just be quiet."

And that's what they did. Even though the children heard yelling, explosions, and gunfire, the only sounds coming from their mouths were quiet crying. They all huddled together in attempt comfort of one another, Odile shushing them whenever she felt someone's voice was beginning to get louder.

Then…all was quiet.

The Little One perked her head up, and looked around as the other children began to follow her lead. Kateri said with a confused look.

"Did we win?"

Odile grinned, ruffling the little girl's hair. "I think we did."

Yet, as all of them stood up to run out of the hut, and into their parents' arms…a hulking shadow just outside of the shelter caused Odile's heart to sink into the ground. Quickly, she held Kateri in place, then put a finger to her lips. The children looked at where her eyes once were, and gasped lightly at the sight. Odile only pressed her finger against her lips tighter as her eyes grew. She looked back at the shadow, and saw it come a bit closer.

Taking her finger off her lips, she walked on the balls of her feet to the blaster on top of the basket. Picking it up gently, she looked back at the children, and shook her head. The Little One then turned around, and tiptoed to the entrance of the hut. The shadow grew larger as she approached it. Once she saw his silhouette turn in the opposite direction, the Little One flew out the entrance, and raised the gun up to the monsters' head. She pulled the trigger.

_Click!_

The creature whipped its head around at the noise, and raised his weapon. Luckily, Odile, jumped out of the way just in time, releasing a small squeal. The girl, still with the blaster in her hand, raised it back up to his head.

_Click!_

Her face dropped at the memory of when the Mandalorian taught her how to use the blaster she was holding.

"_Safety."_ Was the only word that was running through her head. The raider growled lowly at her, then charged. The poor girl was knocked off her feet before she knew anything else that was going on, causing her to let go of the gun as she fell.

The Little One had no time to even back away before the monster pinned her onto the ground and raised his fist up high into the air. It collided with her face, over, and over again.

"Get off of her, you Murglak!"

Odile gasped for air once the creature was off of her and sat up to see that Cass had used all of his weight to push the monster off of her. The raider soon hissed at him in fury and threw him onto the ground. The girl was quick on her feet and ran to help Cass stand up. She was successful and pushed him back along with her.

The sound of the children screaming at the sight of the monster was what caused Cass and Odile to rush back over to them. The Little One stood at the front, holding her arms out to her side to shield the kids from the creature before them.

He let out a guttural cry this time as he charged forward, and the children behind Odile began to scream once again, some closing their eyes in fright.

But, he never reached them.

When the children opened their eyes, they were met with the Little One holding her arms out right in front of her, her fingers curled tightly. And the monster? He was only a few feet away, standing in place. The children did not see this, but Odile's eyes were just as big as theirs once the monster stopped at her command.

Then, she lifted her hands up, causing the raider to follow her will. As he rose up into midair, he began to squeal horribly in terror as he felt his feet leave the ground. At the hideous sound, Odile released her own scream as she glared at him. She then threw her arms in the direction of the trees; causing the beast to collide with them.

Odile released her hands, and settled them on her knees as she hunched over, collecting her breath. When she heard the monster growl and stand up, she braced herself.

Then, a blaster shot was heard.

Immediately standing up straighter, she and the other children watched the villagers rush over, some crying out their children's names. Odile looked over at where the raider once was standing, only to find him now on the ground, dead.

As she felt several of the children move away from her, she just then noticed the pain in her nose, and a familiar, metallic taste in her mouth. Placing both her hands on her face, she soon brought them away, and she felt her soul leave her body at the sight.

Blood.

"Are you okay?"

She didn't acknowledge the Mandalorian's question. How could she? The blood from her hands was starting to run down her arms now, and she still felt it rushing from her nose.

"Kid?"

She remembered it all too well.

When the Mandalorian gently put his hand on her shoulder to look at her, she exploded. The Little One released an ear-splitting scream, and she pushed him away.

"No! Don't, don't! Please!" She cried over and over again, staining his beskar armor with her blood. Odile's knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the grass, hiding her face away from the world, still sobbing.

Underneath his helmet, the Mandalorian's eyes grew at her outburst. On instinct, he backed away to give her space, but he would have been lying if he did not wish to do anything in his power to take away her pain. She sobbed uncontrollably, and a few women from the village soon gathered around her.

"Wait, get away from her!" The Mandalorian pleaded, trying to clear the area.

He then felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Omera with a solemn look on her face. He stared at her questioningly, and, in the corner of his eye, watched as the women helped Odile stand up, and walked her in the direction of a close by hut.

"No-." He took one step to follow them, but Omera soon stood directly in front of him, stopping the Mandalorian in his tracks.

"You can't go." She stated.

"Why not?" He asked, keeping his voice low with irritability.

Omera sighed lightly. "We don't know exactly what happened to that little girl, and it was obvious that she panicked around you."

"I didn't mean-."

"-I know." She nodded gently. "But we need to give her time to recover, and I just don't know how well it would go if you…"

"I understand." He nodded, wishing that he didn't.

She bit her lip, a look of guilt apparent. "I'm so sorry."

He shook his head. "There's nothing else to be done."

"Mother?"

The Mandalorian and Omera glanced down at little Winta holding the Child in her arms. Both adults still saw the look of terror in her eyes, and Omera kneeled down to her daughter's height, kissing her cheek.

"Go find Stoke, and he'll take you home. I need to go check on Odile."

Winta held the baby closer to her. "She's magical, mother."

It was then that the Mandalorian looked down at the small girl, and asked softly. "What?"

She smiled lightly, and took one of her arms away from the Child, holding it out in front of her, with her fingers curled tightly.

"She was holding her hands out like this, and then the monster stopped and started floating!"

Omera's jaw dropped slightly at her daughter's retelling, and looked at the man in armor as if he'd known all along. He only stood stoic as his eyes soon drifted to the grass.

There was another.

* * *

Odile stared ahead at the barn in front of her. The Little One was wearing the same nightgown Omera let her borrow that belonged to Winta. It had been an hour since the villagers had won the battle against the raiders, and in that hour, Odile spent the majority of it being cleaned up. The women of the village surrounded her, but she somehow didn't feel afraid. True, uneasy at first, but they were incredibly gentle with her. They didn't even ask what happened; they just cared for her.

Now, here she was, standing outside the barn the Mandalorian and the Child were resting in. Omera smiled down at her, then approached the doorway. The Mandalorian glanced up at her movement and saw her and the Little One. Omera spoke up.

"She wants to sleep in here tonight, will that be alright with you?"

He glanced at her, and he saw the same look of numbness in her eyes that he saw back in Nevarro when they thought all hope was lost. Not taking his eyes off of her, he answered.

"Of course."

The mother smiled, and with only a nod as a response, she left them, returning back to her house. They stood there in slight awkwardness until he ushered to the lonesome bed close to the window.

"You uh…you can sleep there. It…it hasn't been used."

Normally, she would have gave him a questioning look at what he'd just said. But, instead, with the same look of numbness in her eyes, she only nodded, then drifted over to the bed. Even how she slid herself under the covers seemed to be filled with stiffness.

Sighing to himself, the Mandalorian glanced over at the baby sleeping in his crib, checking up on him. Thankfully, he was _finally _asleep. For the last fifteen minutes, he kept babbling and cooing; most likely from the excitement earlier in the night.

He then picked up the string of clothesline Omera left for him, walked to one end of the room with it, then to the other, attaching it to stretch across the room. Picking up some spare blankets, he threw some over the clothesline, creating a sort of wall.

"What's that?"

The girl's gentle question caused the Mandalorian to look through the wide slits that was in the middle of where some of the blankets hung.

"It's for privacy."

"Oh."

Moving away from the slit, and behind one of the blankets, he began to take off his armor, leaving him in a tunic and pants.

"Were you scared?"

"Of what?" He asked, still taking the armor off of his body.

"Of fighting?" She questioned, her voice a bit softer.

He shook his head, even though she could maybe only see his shadow through the thin blankets. "A little, but I got braver. Just like you."

"I wasn't."

Once his chest plate was off, he responded to her. "You stood your ground and defended the rest of the children-."

"-They almost died because of me." He heard the bed shift, and her throat tighten. Glancing out from the slit, she wasn't crying, nor were her eyes watering, but the pain that was behind them was obvious. "And…and I had to tell them we wouldn't."

The Mandalorian stared at her, and slowly walked out from behind the blankets. He stood in front of her, then crouched down to be at her level. He said.

"We do what we have to do to keep everyone alive. I know it wasn't right on my part to throw you a blaster and say 'You're on your own', but you handled it pretty well." He lightened his tone a little, but then returned to seriousness. "Look…I don't know what you did, but you _saved _those kids, and yourself; that's all that matters. Okay?"

Odile dropped eye contact with him and remained motionless for a few seconds. He saw her lips move, but no sound came out. He tilted his head to the side.

"What's that?"

She spoke up. "Why didn't you hit me?"

He visibly pulled away a bit, too stunned to say anything right away. Lowering his voice down to a gentler pitch, he asked. "What?"

Her lip quivered. "Back when you first found me, and you told me to stay with the baby while going after the Jawas, I didn't. You got mad at me, but you didn't hit me."

The Mandalorian felt the Little One's pain, and sighed softly. "I was never going to hit you. It's not…it's not right."

"The pirates hit me." She mumbled, though he heard her.

"Who?"

Odile didn't respond, only lowered her head once again, and began rocking back and forth gently. The Mandalorian pulled back. Too much, he was smothering her. After his realization, he said.

"If there's _anything_ you need, do not hesitate to wake me up."

She finally looked at him. "What about your helmet?"

He shrugged. "I've slept in it a lot, I can do it again."

The look on her face almost made him chuckle, but he bit the inside of his mouth, saying. "It was uncomfortable the first time, but you get used to it."

To his joy, the Little One giggled softly, smiling as she looked at him. Even behind the helmet, she liked to think that he was smiling at her too. Soon, he said.

"I think it'd be best to get some sleep."

Her smile dropped, and she shook her head. "I don't want to."

The Mandalorian sighed. "Kriff, Odile, just-."

"-No." She interrupted him. "I…I can't."

Taking note of the now look of fear upon her features, he lowered his tone. "Why can't you?"

Her lip quivered, and she took in a shaky breath before speaking. "I…I can do things no one else can, and I-I already get nightmares, but-but after I use these…powers, it's like they're worse."

"What do you mean?" He questioned.

Odile swallowed, bringing her hand up to her headscarf, staring into space. Of course, the Mandalorian knew he overstepped his boundaries again, but before he could apologize, she began to speak.

"They're happening more now. There-there's always someone cutting me or my mother's hair. Sometimes, one of us dies. It-it's always someone different, and-and I haven't used this power I have in a while I just…"

She wrapped her arms around herself, looking away. "I hate it."

He stared at her for a while longer, before getting up and disappearing back behind the blankets on the clothesline. In less than a minute, he reappeared, carrying something in his hands. Crouching back down, he held it out to her.

It was the wookie toy.

"You didn't go in the ship to get this, and I forgot to give it to you last night so…"

Odile's mouth dropped, and she reached out, taking it into her hands. She gazed down at it, brushing her fingers through its hair. She looked back up at him, smiling.

"Thank you," she said softly. "thank you so much."

He nodded, standing up. "Of course. Goodnight." The Mandalorian then turned around and entered back behind the clothesline. He looked through the thin blankets, and saw her lay down.

His eyes drifted back to his chest plate, looking back at the shoulder. There were still a few specks of blood on it. Her blood.

Shaking his head to himself, he soon got under the covers of his own bed and shut his eyes to try and sleep. Yet, he kept himself alert…just in case Odile were to ask for him.

* * *

"I did it!"

Odile looked up at Kateri's cheer and smiled. It had been two weeks since the battle against the raiders, and two weeks since the Little One had said anything about her powers. Thankfully, the villagers had instilled in their children to not say a single word about them to her. It wasn't that hard to convince them after they had seen her covered in her own blood, crying as if the world was ending.

For those past few weeks, she had mainly stayed in Winta's room with the girl. On a few separate occasions though, she would sneak back into the barn to sleep in the bed near the window. She knew the Mandalorian's helmet would be off, so she always kept her head low as she entered. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he first saw her, but, after the second time, he expected it. He never said anything about it the next day, just wishing her a good morning, and exchanging words with her from time to time throughout the day.

"I saw it, good job!" She congratulated the younger girl after hitting a bullseye on the target with the shepherd's slingshot. Kateri giggled, hugging Odile tightly. The Little One returned the embrace, then soon heard giggling.

Looking over, she smiled as she saw the Child creep out from behind the reeds, then launching over and beginning to eat a frog right in front of him. The rest of the children showed their obvious discuss, 'Ew!'ing at the scene, causing the baby to spit out the frog, confused.

Kateri chuckled. "He's weird, but cute."

Odile poked. "_You're _weird but cute."

The small girl held her arms up, and Odile giggled, using all of her strength to carry Kateri with her.

"Are you and your papa going to stay here?"

Odile gave her a questioning look. "He's not my papa."

It was Kateri's turn to furrow her eyebrows at the girl. "Why are you with him then?"

She swallowed, biting the inside of her mouth. "It's a long story."

"Where's your mama?"

"I don't know."

"Where's your papa?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know anything?" Kateri teased.

Odile left the girl's side, and smiled brightly as she approached the other kids. Winta's face lit up at her.

"Can you tie a blue ribbon in my hair?"

She grinned. "Yeah, could I see the baby though?"

Winta nodded, and Odile soon sat down on the ground, reaching her arms out to the Child. "Come here, come here." She cooed. He gurgled, walking into her hold, and she sat him on her lap. "You like it here?"

He let out a happy giggle as his response, causing the kids around them to giggle as well. Glancing up, she saw Omera and the Mandalorian talking to one another a distance away. Winta nudged her.

"What do you think they're talking about?"

Odile shrugged, playing with the baby's hands. "Probably lovey dovey things."

"Ewwwww." Winta whined, and Odile laughed.

"Can you put a _white _ribbon in my hair, Odile?" Cass' familiar voice asked.

The Little One nodded, chuckling. "Who's the lucky one, Cass?"

"The frog the baby almost ate!" Riz joked, causing the rest of the kids to laugh loudly.

Cass chuckled. "I was thinking _you, _Riz."

While the boy gagged at the thought, it was Cass' turn for everyone to laugh at the joke he made. Odile then spoke up.

"As long as you don't-."

The sound of a blaster in the distance caused everyone to jump. A few of the kids around Odile yelped in surprise, looking around rapidly. Soon, Omera came rushing over, helping her daughter and Odile up.

"Come on, come on, back to the house." She urged, pushing them in front of her. Without asking any other questions, they ran as fast as their little legs could carry them back to Winta's house. Omera pushed the three inside, and shut the door quickly.

As Odile caught her breath, and set the Child down, she looked around. "Where's the Mandalorian?"

Omera cupped her cheek. "It's okay, he's just going to see who made that noise and-."

"-No!" Odile yelled, heading straight for the door. Omera took her into her arms, and hugged her close. She shushed her gently.

"It's okay, okay. Your father will be back here in no time and-."

"-He's not my father!" She screamed, pulling away from the woman. The vase on the kitchen table soon flew off the surface, and shattered against the wall. Odile gasped as Winta screeched in surprise, and the Little One covered her mouth with both hands. "I'm-I'm so sorry-!"

Omera shook her head, walking past her to get a pan and broom from the corner. "It's alright, I know you didn't mean to."

And that was that. Not even an hour later, as Odile and the Child were in Winta's room, playing with dolls, they heard the front door open. Glancing through the crack in the door of Winta's bedroom, the two girls watched as the Mandalorian and Omera spoke to each other, but their voices were inaudible.

Once they saw him approaching their room, the girls retreated back to the Child, and acted as if they were there the whole time. The door creaked open, and they looked up at the tall man dressed in armor.

"Hey," he began gently, looking at Winta as he crouched down. "could I talk to them?"

The girl nodded, stood up, and rushed out of the door, promptly shutting it behind her. He then looked over at Odile and the Child that was now resting on her lap.

"We have to leave. There was…another bounty hunter that tried to come after you and him. I'm sorry."

She nodded, then drifted her eyes down in disappointment. Her little voice said. "I broke a vase."

"I know." He nodded. "It's alright-."

"-No it's not." She shook her head.

He paused. "You couldn't control it."

"Yes I could."

"Odile." He spoke a bit more sternly, but only enough for her to finally look at him. He continued. "I'm going to be honest, I have no idea the things you and the kid are capable of. I don't even know how you're able to do the things you do; but, I have complete faith that you're not a bad person."

She stared at him, her eyes filled with hesitance and a dash of confusion. Putting the gurgling baby on the floor, she crawled over to Winta's nightstand, and opened the drawer. Shuffling through it, she soon took out something, then walked to stand in front of him. She opened both of her hands, she revealed a small, beaded bracelet.

"Winta taught me how to make these." She stated. "I-I know you won't wear it, but I made it for you for coming back to get me and the Child."

The Mandalorian looked down at the craft, then gently took it from her hands into his gloved ones. The ends of the twine were beginning to fray, and a few of the beads were loose, but, to him, that only added to it. He looked up at her.

"Thank you."

If Odile didn't know any better, she thought his voice broke just a hint.

* * *

The whole village had gathered to send off the Mandalorian and the children. After stocking up the speeder on all of their belongings, Cara turned to the Mandalorian.

"Are you sure you don't want an escort?"

"I appreciate the offer, but we're gonna bypass the town and head right to the Razor Crest." He informed her.

She smiled, reaching out her hand. "Well then, until our paths cross."

"Until our paths cross." He took it.

Odile looked over at the friends she had made just only a few weeks prior. It had felt like a long time since she had seen her old friends on Naboo, and when she could put flowers in her long hair while laughing until her face turned redder than her locks…But no, it had been perhaps almost a month since she and her mother were ripped away from each other, and when that man cut her hair off with a look of delight on his face.

The Little One immediately hugged them as she held the Child in her arms. Winta said into her ear.

"I'm gonna miss you so much."

"Me too." Her voice broke, hugging her hard with her free arm.

Cass pat her back. "You still need to get me and Riz a white ribbon."

The children all softly chuckled, and Odile nodded against his shoulder. "Sometime."

They pulled away from each other, and Odile sniffled as she turned around and was helped into the speeder by the Mandalorian. They watched as the village and its villagers become smaller and smaller as they pulled away, waving slightly.

Once they were far away from the village, and could see the sky, Odile pointed her finger up to it.

"What does that cloud look like?"

The Mandalorian looked at where she was pointing, and saw an obscure shape. After a few seconds, he responded with.

"A Bantha."

"A what?"

* * *

**Howdy y'all!  
So, here you go, the second part of chapter 4! Ooof, this would've been a 15,000 word part chapter if I didn't split it up.  
**

**Sooooooo, Odile is force sensitive! I know, BIG surprise since we knew she had midi-chlorians in her. Once again, I enjoy writing her and Mando's relationship, while also portraying her religion and culture. I think you're going to find it more and more interesting as the story progresses.**

**I'm approaching finals, but Christmas break is coming up, so I hope I'll have time to write! Also, holy crap, "The Tragedy" was an amazing episode, but left me heartbroken. I hope all of you know, in the future, I will have a field day of angst with that one. Anyway, stay safe as always!**


	6. Chapter 5: The Dreamer

The Mandalorian glanced back at Odile for the third time that hour. The first time he had looked at her, she wasn't in her seat, but playing with the Child; to which he told her to go back to her chair. The second time, she was playing with the Wookie toy, whom she had decided to call DeeDee. It was the third time when he saw her staring out the window, and at the blankness of space with only the stars to look at.

"We'll find somewhere else." He decided to speak up, trying to sound somewhat comforting.

Only her eyes moved to look at him in her peripheral vision; she kept her entire body facing the window, and only nodded in response. The girl propped her head on her arms, and continued to gaze out the window, longingly.

He sighed softly. "I'm sorry we had to leave, it's just…"

Of course, trailing off in thought wouldn't help anyone, so, he tried his hardest to come up with something else to say.

"We'll find a better place."

Again, the Little One said nothing.

That is…until she took her head off her arms and asked in alarm. "What's that?"

Without thinking, the Mandalorian turned his head over his shoulder, only to be met with a look of dread in the girl's eyes. He soon looked back to the front, and down at his controls to a camera. Starting to come from behind the Razor Crest, was another ship.

"Kriff," he cursed to himself, then spoke louder. "hang onto something."

Before she could ask what he meant by that, the Mandalorian flew in all different directions as he tried to throw the approaching bounty hunter off his trail. The poor girl felt as if she was going to vomit all over her new dress as the Razor Crest went up, then down, up again, and soon sideways.

"Hand over the children, Mando." A man over the speaker threatened. As soon as he finished, the Razor Crest rocked violently, causing a small cry to escape Odile's mouth, and the Mandalorian hung onto the wheel, trying to keep it steady. "I might let you live." The bounty hunter over the radio finished.

Alarm bells were beginning to ring all over the Little One's ears, and she hastily covered them with her hands, seething through her teeth and trying to block out the sound. All she could barely make out was the Mandalorian saying 'Hold on', before twisting the wheel, and causing the ship to spin wildly.

"Come on," he urged to himself, and Odile felt her stomach doing even more somersaults.

The bounty hunter tailing behind them spoke over the radio again. "Mando, I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold."

With one last form of trickery, the Mandalorian slammed on the brakes of the Razor Crest, promptly stopping it midflight. Before Odile could compose herself, she felt her seat shift, and soon saw the bounty hunter's ship in front of theirs, the right engine being taken out.

"That's _my _line." He grumbled, seeing that his assailant's ship was now in range. Taking the shot, the only remembrance of the attacker was of him screaming over the radio as his ship exploded into dust, and static followed.

Finally being able to take a breath, the three of them sat in silence for just a few moments to gather their thoughts. The Mandalorian soon got up from his chair, and walked over to the backup generator behind Odile. After he switched it on, screens illuminated once more, and the engine fired up again. He then glanced over at the Little One. Her eyes were hooded by her eyelids, and she was swaying slightly in her seat.

"Hey," he began gently. "you okay?"

Odile grunted softly in response, her arms cradling her stomach, and shook her head. The Mandalorian, knowing the look on her face better than anyone else, went back over to his seat, and reached down for something in the compartment. Picking up a small flask, he turned and held it out to her.

"Here, drink this."

She gave him a look, and he sighed. "It's just water, it should help."

Glancing at him one last time, she brought her hand forward and took the flask. Unscrewing it, she soon gulped down the water, and brought it away from her lips, sighing and resting her head against the glass of the window. In the corner of her eye, she saw the Child tilting his head at her, making a questioning cooing sound.

"Feel better?" He asked, and the Little One nodded, lazily handing the flask back to him. He took it back, not drawing his gaze away from her. "How'd you see him?"

Her eyes moved over to him. "What?"

"The ship tailing us," he clarified. "I didn't even notice him."

Sitting up, she pointed to the corner of the large window behind her. "It-it was really small, but he was there."

He craned his neck up a little to look over where she was pointed and scoffed in surprise. "You got a good eye, kid."

Odile smiled shyly once he turned his head away from her and sat back in his seat. He fiddled with a few controls before a voice came over the radio.

"This is Mos Eisley tower, we are tracking you. Head for Bay three-five, over."

"Copy that. Locked in for three-five." The Mandalorian repeated back, and began heading towards a nearby planet covered in sand.

With a trail of smoke following the blasted engine, the Razor Crest sputtered all the way down to the bay. After landing, relatively, safely, he unbuckled himself from his chair, and the Little One followed his lead. The Mandalorian picked the now sleeping Child up from his bassinet, and climbed down the ladder; Odile also followed him down, clutching DeeDee close to her.

The man in armor walked over to the small room that Odile had previously slept in, and pressed the button on the wall to open the door. Gently placing the swaddled baby on the bed, he then looked over to the small girl, and got down on one knee, looking at her.

"I'm going to be out for a few hours and look for a job to pay off the repairs. You're in charge of him until I get back."

She blinked, confused. "What if someone comes in here?"

He shook his head. "They won't."

"So, are we just supposed to be boarded up in there until you come back?" She pointed at the small room.

He nodded. "That's correct."

The Little One couldn't help but pout slightly as she dragged her feet to room, and sat on the bed with her legs crossed. "It's boring."

The Mandalorian sighed. "Just get some rest then." Before pressing the button on the outside, and promptly shutting the door in her face.

She grumbled. "That's what you always say."

So, as the Little One was left alone with the Child in the small room, she laid herself flat against the bed, and began to daydream as she held DeeDee.

Daydreams of Naboo, daydreams of her village…Daydreams of Lavinia and her walking hand in hand while exploring the forest, daydreams of them swimming underwater to see who could hold their breath the longest…

Daydreams of lessons, daydreams of her sisters…Daydreams where she'd where all colors of flowers in her hair as she and her sisters danced the night away on any of the birthday celebrations. Daydreams of lessons every few hours of the day, where she would learn how to braid her hair, learn how to care for it, learn how to make it her identity…

Learn how she would be ostracized if she ever let a man cut even a trim of it off…

Daydreams of her mother, and how she shared the same red hair as she did. Daydreams of how she'd sing her to sleep, and hold her in her arms on stormy nights. Daydreams of when, not so long ago, her mother was hissing at the men who were taunting her daughter, and holding scissors to the scalp of her head…

As Odile decided to stop daydreaming, she gathered the sleeping Child in her arms, and she drifted off to sleep as well.

* * *

"_Odile."_

_The Little One opened her eyes, and, was surprised to not see herself in a dimly lit room with someone holding scissors but…_

_Somewhere behind a stage?_

"_Yeesh, Ember," the familiar voice laughed. "are you okay?"_

_Odile turned around and her jaw dropped once she made eye contact with Lavinia Sparks. The girl's hair was still braided like it always was, and had beads, not flowers or ribbons, clipped in. The Little One's mouth quivered._

"_Lavinia-."_

"_-Go on, you stupid skinny girl!" She pushed her friend, giggling. "It's your turn."_

_Odile looked over her shoulder, and saw the stage far away behind her. How…how was she back here? Turning back to face her sister, she took her hand into hers._

"_Will you come out with me?"_

_Lavinia smiled, squeezing her hand. "Thought you'd never ask."_

_They walked hand in hand together out onto the barren stage. The lights around them were so bright, neither of the girls could even see a single face in the audience. Looking at one another, Lavinia responded look of mischief in her eyes. Then, grabbing onto Odile's other hand, they twirled together._

_The girl with red hair reaching her back couldn't help but squeal in delight as her friend guided their movements in perfect synch. There was no music to be heard, yet the dance they were creating was nearly flawless. They swayed together, looking deeply into each other's eyes, and never parting. _

_The small girls laughed whole heartedly as they danced effortlessly across the stage, never letting go of one another. In an act that came out of nowhere, Odile wrapped her arms around Lavinia, and crushed her in an embrace. The girl with beads in her black hair responded just as excitedly, hugging her closer._

"_Odile?" Her little voice questioned._

"_Yeah?" She asked, nuzzling her cheek into her friend's shoulder._

"_Where are you?"_

* * *

Odile gasped and was soon wide awake at the sound of footsteps approaching. Springing up, she cowered into the corner of the small room as she looked to the now opened door, and saw a woman right in front of her.

"Woah, woah, woah!" She cried. "Calm down! I'm not going to hurt you."

The Little One's breathing was ragged as she curled herself into a ball, but kept her eyes trained on the woman's face. Her eyes were soft, and she held one of her hands up gently in front of her. In the other, the Child.

"Give him to me." She tried to say in a commanding tone, but it only came out as pleading. The woman holding the baby glanced down at him, then wrapped her other arm around his small figure.

"Okay," she breathed. "I'm gonna give this little guy to you slowly, understand?"

Odile nodded. She crawled over to the woman, keeping her eyes alert, then gently took the Child into her arms, never taking her gaze off the woman with crazy hair.

She sighed. "Alright, good, good. My name's Peli, can you tell me yours?"

The small girl with a head scarf swallowed, rocking the gurgling Child in her arms. After a few brief seconds of silence, she spoke softly. "Winta."

Peli nodded, smiling. "Winta. Winta, that's a pretty name for a pretty girl."

Odile made a face at the compliment, cradling the baby closer to her chest. Peli immediately took notice, and her tone dropped.

"Oh no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off too strong."

She breathed heavily, shuffling herself closer against the wall to stay away from the woman. Peli swallowed, and squatted down, holding her hands out in front of her.

"Everything's gonna be okay, kiddo. I'm not going to hurt either of you." She reassured. "Could you just come out, Winta? So we can talk?"

Odile eyed her curiously, and, after another moment of silence, she gently nodded. Peli smiled and stood up to back away and give the small girl space. Odile crawled out of the small room and looked up at the woman with large curls.

"You hungry?" She questioned, beginning to walk out of the Razor Crest.

The Little One soon followed, shushing the baby as she walked. "Kinda."

Peli chuckled, leading Odile into a small workshop of some sorts. "You should've seen the kid in your arms. I fed him some leftover bones, and he gobbled them up in one bite! After I worked on the ship, he then began wandering in, and that's when I found you."

Odile smiled slightly at the image of the baby eating, and sat down at a small table without even thinking. The Child gripped her thumb lightly, and the Little One giggled, rubbing her nose into the top of his head, causing himself to release a spur of giggles.

As Peli placed a small cup under a water pump, she watched the two interact, and she asked. "How old are you, Winta?"

It was like her words fell deaf on the girl's ears, as she only continued to play with the baby in her lap, quietly snickering.

"Winta?"

Her head snapped up at the name, and she looked right at the woman who said it. Peli repeated. "How old are you?"

Odile pressed her lips together. "Thirteen."

Peli's mouth dropped open. "Thirteen?! Dank Farrik, you look too small to be that old. You need some meat on those bones."

She blushed at that statement, and, before she knew it, Peli was brewing up some sort of meat soup on the burner. She attempted to make more conversation with Odile, but the Little One only responded with one worded answers, keeping most of her attention on the Child in her arms.

Once the soup was ready, Peli served it to her in a bowl, and Odile began to slurp it from the wooden spoon she was offered. After a few moments, Peli asked.

"Winta, how do you know the Mandalorian?"

Odile looked up, swallowing her spoonful. She stared right into the woman's eyes. "He's my…"

"_What…what's the word?!" _Her mind rushed with that question over and over again. She was taking too long to respond, and Peli knew that. So, she quietly answered.

"Father's brother's child."

Peli gave her an odd look. "Your cousin?"

"Yes."

The woman with curly hair nodded again, but didn't look convinced. She ushered to the Child. "And who's he?"

"My pet." She answered too quickly.

Still, Peli nodded. The woman then lowered her voice, and sat down next to the Little One. "Winta, you can tell me anything."

"What?" She asked, actually puzzled.

Peli swallowed. "I know he isn't your cousin, and he had no reason to hide you or the baby in his ship. I want to help you."

Odile only grew more confused at her statement, and how she looked almost scared as she spoke those words. But, before she could answer with another question, a booming yell filled their ears.

"Hey!"

Odile nearly jumped out of her skin, and the two girls looked to see the Mandalorian walking out from the entrance of the Razor Crest. They hadn't even known he came in. Peli left Odile's side, and grabbed a blaster off a nearby workbench, marching outside.

"Stop right there!" She commanded, holding the blaster up.

Legitimately taken off guard, the man in armor stopped in his tracks, and held his hand out. "What are you-? Put that down!"

"You're not taking them anywhere!" She yelled back, her grip tightening around the gun.

He shook his head, voice lowering threateningly. "You don't want to do this."

Peli scoffed. "Oh yeah? Try me and we'll see."

As Odile, still frozen in her seat, watched the showdown, her eyes soon made their way to the Mandalorian's other hand; which was slowly slipping to his holster. Placing the Child on the table, Odile rushed out, and grabbed onto Peli's free arm.

"No!"

The woman shrugged her off, placing her second hand onto the blaster. "Winta, get back inside."

Stopping his motions, the Mandalorian glanced down at the small girl. "Winta?"

"Hey, buckethead!" Peli taunted. "Don't look at her, look at me!"

The Mandalorian brought his eyes back up to the woman with the blaster aimed at his head. "Look, there's been a misunderstanding-."

"-Uh huh, wait until the New Republic hears about a trafficker with two children, I _bet _they'll understand."

Soon, Odile was in front of the two, holding her arms up. "No, he's right!"

"Winta," Peli warned. "get out of-."

"-My name's Odile." She tried to catch her breath. "I'm-I'm not thirteen, I'm eleven, the Child's not my pet, and-and _he _isn't my cousin but he's taking care of me. So-so please, just please, put the gun down."

The poor girl was on the brink of crying as she finished, and a look of shock ran through Peli's eyes. Slowly lowering the gun, she asked. "This true? You know him?"

Odile could only nod, blinking back tears and breathing heavily. Peli placed the blaster in the back of her pants, and sighed heavily, shaking her head. "You _sure_?"

She nodded again, swallowing. A cooing noise soon broke apart the tension, and all eyes drifted to the Child who was peeking out from behind the wall of the workshop. The Mandalorian brushed past Odile, and bent down to take the Child in his arms.

Peli rolled her eyes. "You know, you have an awful lot to learn about raising young ones, because I don't think it's the best thing to leave them cooped up in a ship and not tell anyone."

"Good to know." Was all he responded with, then walked over to Odile and handed the Child to her. He said nothing as he walked over to Peli.

She sighed, pulling his attention to the ship. "I started the repair on the fuel leak," she fiddled with a machine. "there you go. I had a couple setbacks I want to talk to you about. You know, I didn't use any droids as requested, so it took me a little longer than I expected."

Without even noticing, the Mandalorian had walked out of the ship with equipment that he would need for a journey. Peli's face lit up as she followed him out the door.

"Oh, I guess I was right. You got a job, didn't you?"

When the Little One and the Child saw the two out of sight, Odile quickly followed after them, and entered out into the hot suns. As she stood next to Peli, she squinted her eyes to make out the figure of a younger man standing next to two speeders.

"Hey Mando, what do you think? Not too shabby, huh?" He asked, smirking.

The Mandalorian placed the pack down on one speeder, and began to inspect it. The man chuckled.

"What'd you expect?" His eyes soon followed to Peli, and the little girl holding the baby to her chest. He smirked, then squatted down to be at her height. "Well hello there, sweetheart, what's your name?"

The girl swallowed, keeping her eyes locked on his, and biting her tongue not to look away in fear.

"Don't bother," the Mandalorian spoke as he continued to load up the speeder. "she's just shy."

He chuckled. "That's alright, I'm Toro." The man then held out his hand, obviously wanting her to shake it.

The Little One did nothing, only kept her eyes fixated on his. He curled his hand into a fist, then stood back up on his feet, glancing at the two girls as Odile handed the Child to Peli. "Okay then, nice meeting you, ladies."

Both Toro and the Mandalorian mounted the speeders, and the younger of the two smirked at him, reving his engine. "Race you there, old man."

Just like that, his speeder was off, and, literally, leaving the Mandalorian in the dust. Before he could go after him, he felt a gentle hand on his bicep. Nearly flinching at the touch, he looked down and saw Odile's soft eyes.

"I don't like him." She commented.

He sighed. "You think I do?"

She shook her head. "No, no, he doesn't seem…right."

"How do you figure?"

The girl paused but said. "I knew someone like him."

"Young and stupid." he explained, getting ready to drive away. "there's a lot like him; you're just being paranoid."

Odile swallowed, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry I lied to her, I just…"

He looked at her, obviously annoyed. "What?"

She bit her tongue. "I was scared."

The Mandalorian stared at her for a few more moments, then sighed heavily, shaking his head. "I'll try and be back before nightfall. Please don't do anything else that could get me in trouble."

Before the girl could refute his claim, Peli gently tugged on her arm, and led her away from the speeder. Then, the Mandalorian took off, leaving a wind of sand behind him.

* * *

"_Wake up."_

_Odile opened her eyes as she heard the voice whisper in her ear. The light was what blinded her first, and then, her eyes began to adjust to where she was. _

_Home._

_Home…why was she home? She hadn't had dreams of home since…forever. Even when she was safely living in her village on Naboo, she barely had dreams of it…only nightmares._

_Looking around, there was no doubt that it was home. The small houses were all aligned perfectly like they were supposed to be, the water poured seamlessly through the village, and the crops from the farm were healthy. The only thing missing, were the people._

_And small Odile still had no idea who had whispered to her._

"_Odile, daughter of Adamina."_

_The Little One shut her eyes tightly. Turning around, she slowly opened one eye at a time, and was soon face to face with an older woman, who wore her gray hair in braids, and had a black ribbon tied into a bow._

"_Good morning, Elder Sai." She greeted._

_The elder nodded, her eyes practically pouring into her soul. "Is there a reason you're alone, today?"_

_She shook her head. "No, ma'am."_

"_Is there a reason you're not at lessons today?"_

_Odile swallowed, become increasingly embarrassed. "I don't-."_

"_-Is there any reason you let a man steal your honor away from you?"_

_That was what silenced the small girl. Feeling her heart stop in her chest, her eyes grew at the accusation. But, the elder didn't stop there._

"_Is there a reason you didn't use your 'magic' to stop him?"_

_She began to shake her head. "Stop."_

"_Is there a reason you didn't use it to save your mother?"_

"_Please." Odile begged, backing away._

_The elder only stepped forward. "Is there a reason, Odile, daughter of Adamina that you-wake up."_

_Odile's fear soon morphed into confusion. "What?"_

"_I said," she hissed. "is there a reason that you believe it is a silly game to disobey our rules?"_

_The Little One shook her head rapidly. "No, Elder Sai, I-."_

"_Wake up."_

_The voice again caused Odile to shriek, turning in all different directions to see who spoke to her. There was no one besides Elder Sai around her._

_The old woman growled. "What are you looking for, you stupid girl?"_

"_Wake up."_

_It was a woman who spoke it this time, right in her ear. Glancing at her side, Odile saw Lavinia press her lips up against her ear, mumbling those words. She pulled away gently, staring at her friend._

"_Lavinia…" she begged through tears._

_The girl with beads, not ribbons, in her hair only took Odile's face into her hands and pressed her forehead against hers._

"_Wake up."_

* * *

Slowly, Odile's eyes opened, and she was met with the pitch black room she decided to rest in, and DeeDee at her side. Sitting up, she felt around for her headscarf, and when she found it, swiftly tied it into her hair. Still feeling odd from the…dream? Nightmare? She pressed the button on the wall, and the door opened in front of her. Immediately, a pit fell into her stomach.

"_Something isn't right." _A voice in her head whispered to her.

To conclude her suspicion, the young girl saw a shadowy figure reflect off the moonlight outside of the Razor Crest, along with a voice she could barely recognize.

"Where's the girl?"

Him.

It was the man the Mandalorian was partnered with for a job.

Covering her mouth, Odile backed away from the door, and reached into the corner of the small room where the bed didn't meet the wall. She'd found the blaster hiding in there as soon as they left Sorgan, and when asking the Mandalorian why it was there, he just shrugged and said 'Just in case'.

Keeping her finger off the trigger, the Little One slide off the bed, and began crouching down as she tiptoed throughout the ship. Getting closer to the opened hatch, she felt her heart nearly beating out of her chest as she peeked out, looking for Toro.

There he was, aiming a blaster right at Peli with one hand, and holding the Child like a sack of potatoes in the other. Taking a controlled breath, Odile held the blaster gun out in front of her, still squatting.

…He was human though.

The Little One had only killed a beast once, and intended to kill another one just weeks ago…but this was a person who she could understand, and see pain on his face if she had decided to hurt him.

"There you are!"

Odile let out a gasp as she stood up tall, only to be met with a blaster being pointed not at her, but at the baby's head. Her mouth quivered as she stood there, completely frozen and helpless.

"Alright, alright." it sounded like he was talking more to himself. "Okay, girl, you're going to listen to me loud and clear, or I'll make sure this little thing won't have to worry about headaches ever again, got that?"

She swallowed, nodding and unable to look at Peli's face. He smiled and continued saying.

"Okay, drop it slowly, and kick it over to me. _Slowly_." He stressed the word again.

Following orders, Odile leaned down, and set the gun onto the ledge of the Razor Crest, keeping her hands up at all time. Staring at the ground, she kicked it down the ledge, and at his feet.

He smirked. "Good girl."

A chill ran down her spine, but she tried her hardest to remain stoic in her stance. It was then that her eyes betrayed her when she gazed up at the shadowy figure of the Mandalorian entering.

Toro looked to where her eyes were, and smirked, walking up to Peli and holding the gun to her. "Took you long enough, Mando. Looks like I'm calling the shots now, huh, partner?"

Without a second to spare, the Mandalorian aimed his blaster right between Toro's eyes. Yet, as the Gunslinger held the Child, and the Little One stood behind him with eyes wide open, the Mandalorian felt his hand begin to tremble as he held the blaster.

Toro shook his head. "Drop your blaster and raise 'em."

Seeing that he had no other choice, even as Odile shook her head mouthing 'No', the bounty hunter lowered his gun onto the sand, and placed his hands behind his helmet. With a look of satisfaction, Toro bumped the barrel of the gun on Peli's shoulder.

"Cuff him."

Without any sort of resistance, Peli approached the Mandalorian, and stood behind him as if to cuff both of his hands. Toro couldn't help but continue his monologue.

"You're a Guild traitor, Mando; and I'm willing to bet," he pointed his blaster to Odile, then to the Child. "these two are the targets you helped escape."

"Don't."

Toro turned over his shoulder to look up at the small girl at the top of the incline. He smirked, still holding onto the Child, and made his way to her.

"Lookie here," he taunted. "I thought the Tricho-bastard was shy?"

Odile bit the inside of her lip until she thought her teeth would draw blood. Still, Toro wouldn't let up, stroking the blaster against her headscarf.

"I wonder how bad that haircut of yours is under the rag?"

That was when she froze under his gaze, and she couldn't help herself as her eyes grew in width, and her mouth parted. He smirked, shaking his head.

"Don't worry," he turned back to the Mandalorian, aiming his gun right at him. "we won't find out until-."

The two of them were immediately blinded by a white light from a flash charge, and the Gunslinger began firing aimlessly while the Little One fell to the ground with a cry. As Toro tried to shoot his target, the Mandalorian was one step ahead, shooting him in the chest.

His body fell backwards into the ship, and Odile could barely make out the sound of the Child crying as she could only see the color white in her vision. Breathy heavily, she struggled to break free when she felt warm fingers on her arms.

"Hey, hey!" A woman's voice tried to say over her cries. "It's just me, it's just me, it's Peli!"

The Little One's sight began to heal, and she made out the picture of the woman with curly hair right in front of her. Blinking back tears, Odile leaned against the woman, and took in heaving breaths.

"Are you hurt?" Peli began looking all over the little girl, and she only shook her head.

"Kid?"

Odile glanced over her shoulder and saw the Mandalorian standing above her with the Child in his arms. She reached out for him, and he carefully placed the baby into her hands. Lazily, Odile held the Child close to her, pressing her nose into the top of his head.

Without saying a word, the Little One stood up on her feet, and turned to walk back into the Razor Crest, stepping over Toro's carcass.

The Mandalorian and Peli watched her with a look of uneasiness until she stepped into the small room and closed the door. They glanced at one another and, after dragging the body of out of the ship, the Mandalorian reached down into Toro's pocket, and took the bag filled with credits. Opening up the bag, he stared down at them, then slipped a few into his pocket.

"So, I take it you didn't get paid?" Peli asked.

Turning around, the Mandalorian held out the bag, and poured out all of the remaining credits into her hands. "This cover me?"

"Yeah," Peli nodded with a shock faced. "yeah, this'll cover you."

He nodded back, then glanced back up at the opening of the Razor Crest. Looking away, he headed towards the exit of the workplace, and then said to Peli before leaving.

"I need to do something. I'll be back soon."

* * *

The Little One played with her toy as the Child gazed up at her in awe. Staring down at him, she couldn't help but softly pet his head, and he nuzzled into her fingers. She wanted desperately to smile, but she felt as if her lips were restraining her.

Then, a tender knock on the door was what brought her back.

Without another thought, she pushed the grey button on the wall, and it instantly opened to reveal the Mandalorian standing before her.

"Hi." He greeted softly.

She nodded as her response, still holding onto her toy with one hand. The bounty hunter, much like he did earlier in the day, got down on one knee in front of her to be at her level. Then, he reached into something in his back pocket of his armor and pulled it out.

A Holoplayer, and earpieces.

Odile's eyes grew at the sight, and she was almost afraid to reach out and take it from his hand. Still, the Mandalorian, just placed it down in front of her, and kept talking.

"Listen," he began. "I'm…I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier. You thought you were doing what was best, and I shouldn't be angry at you for that. Just probably shouldn't do something like that in the future, you know?"

The Little One nodded, but barely. Her eyes kept glancing down to the Holoplayer, and he pushed it towards her. "You wanna try it? I know you probably got bored today, so that's why I got it."

Odile swallowed, a look of hesitation playing on her features. Before she could stop herself, she asked quietly. "Do you still hate me?"

The Mandalorian stiffened at her questions, but soon relaxed, saying. "I never did, I just…" She tilted her head to the side, still frowning in confusion. He sighed, continuing. "…I get worried about you and the kid, and…I don't know how to handle that sometimes."

Odile nodded, unclear if she was accepting his apology, or just acknowledging it. Still, as a surprise, she took both earpieces in between her fingers, and placed them into her ears. She then turned on the Holoplayer.

"There's only one song in there, sorry." The Mandalorian informed. His words were ignored by the Little One as she pressed 'Play' on the Holoplayer.

The first thing she heard in her ears, was a familiar melody on the vibraphone. Then came the strings, the flutes, and a low trumpet into a large crescendo; then, all at once, it stopped, and a gentle piano followed.

Odile felt her cheeks beginning to hurt from how wide her smile was, and she covered her mouth when she heard the first note of the music. The Mandalorian tilted his head in slight concern.

"Do you like it?"

She nodded excitedly, pressing the earpiece as if she could hear better. In the corner of her eye, she saw him nod, and move his hand to the button on the outside. Before he could reach for it though, the girl took the baby and DeeDee into her arms, and exited the small room. Taking the ear pieces out, and shutting off the Holoplayer, she looked up at the man.

"Can we sit up with you?"

The Mandalorian stared down at her through his helmet for a few moments of quietness, then nodded. "Sure."

Still grinning, Odile handed the Child to him, and climbed up the ladder to enter the cockpit. Following behind her, the Mandalorian placed the Child in his bassinet, and sat down the pilot chair, starting the engines. He glanced behind to look at her.

"You're not tired?"

She stopped playing with DeeDee, and gave a playful grin. "I slept a lot. You know, something _you _always tell me to do."

As the Razor Crest took off into space, Odile liked to think that he was smiling underneath his helmet.

* * *

**Oooooo, did I somehow add a bunch of character development/a bit of action to this episode? Lol, I'm really proud of this one, and I'm glad I could write a different kind of side to both Odile and the Mandalorian. I apologize if I wrote anyone out of character. Also, I kinda had to change a bit of Peli and Mando's interaction because, let's be honest, if she found not just a baby, but a human child hidden away, there'd probably a lot of questions. **

**Anyway, consider this a nice Christmas present, and thank you for being patient! **

**Also, the season finale BROKE me**


End file.
